Prophesies
by Crystal565
Summary: Sequel to You Should Be Mine. Season six AU. Someone’s trying to make sure Cole and Piper don’t stay together.
1. Forget

This is my sequel to You Should Be Mine. It's an AU of season six. This takes place a few weeks after my other story ended. I will not be rewriting every episode of season six, but I needed some things from this episode to stay the same for the overall idea I have for this story to work. This will probably be the only episode that I follow like this.

Don't own anything.

* * *

"Come on, I'm starved." Piper said, grabbing the nearest shirt she could find, one of Cole's and pulling it over her head. Cole sighed.

"Fine, fine." He got up and pulled on a pair of pants. He grabbed her around the waist before she could get out the door from behind. She smiled, leaning back against his chest.

"You know, I have no food here." She laughed.

"Believe me, I know. That's why you need to do that shimmering…thing." Cole groaned, burying his head in her neck.

"Think of it this way," she turned in his arms, "the sooner you get back, the sooner we can back to our…weekend."

"Fine." He said, releasing her and going to find another shirt before shimmering out. She smiled and walked into his living room, plopping down on the couch.

The past few weeks had been wonderful. They did spend more time at his place than at the manor, mostly because for a while her sisters were still a little weird about the whole thing.

Phoebe had told her about the talk she'd had with Cole and that she had accepted it, but Piper knew that it was still a little strange for her to see them together. Piper didn't want to make her more uncomfortable than she had too.

Paige, on the other hand, was a little bit more on the vocal side about it. She was coming around, but slowly. She still didn't like Cole, but Piper had the feeling that Paige didn't want her to go back into the depression she'd been in after he had left. She'd been more than vocal about what she'd do to Cole if something happened.

Paige and Phoebe were both dating again and Piper had spent the past day and a half with Cole. She knew that the peace couldn't last, not with their lives, but she was trying to enjoy it while it did. Piper nearly groaned when her cell rang and she picked it up off the table.

"Hello." She answered with a slight feeling of trepidation.

"Piper? Hey, it's me." Phoebe's voice came through. She sounded nervous. Piper sighed.

"What's happened now?"

"You're never going to believe this one."

"What is it?" Really, Phoebe shouldn't say things like that.

"You need to get home. And bring Cole. We might need him." She paused. "Hey!" She yelled suddenly and Piper heard glass breaking in the background followed by a distinctly male voice.

"I gotta go, Piper. Just get here. Fast."

"Phoebe-" The dial tone cut her off and Piper, now slightly afraid, jumped to her feet and ran back to Cole's room. She pulled on her pants quickly just as Cole shimmered in, holding up take out.

"Forget it." She said, grabbing her shoes but not putting them on. "We have to go back to the manor."

"What's happened?" He asked, concern in his eyes.

"Don't know. Phoebe hung up on me. If she's not hurt, I'll kill her." She grabbed a hold of Cole's hand and a few seconds later they appeared in the kitchen of the manor. When they stepped into the hallway, Piper's eyes widened.

"What the hell is going on here?" She only looked into the living room to see the chaos there. It seemed like every magical creature she had ever come across were congregated in her house.

Piper dropped her shoes and started up the stairs to the attic. She and Cole both stopped short when they stepped inside.

"Holy…" Piper shook her head, and walked further into the room. "Paige?" Piper stepped closer and reached out to touch what appeared to be her sister's shoulder. "What happened to her?" She glanced over at Cole.

"Titans." A unfamiliar voice said from across the room. Piper and Cole both spun to see a young man standing in front of the book and flipping through it.

"Who are you?!" Before he could answer, though, Phoebe ran into the room.

"Piper! Hey." Piper turned to her sister, her eyes still wide.

"Phoebe, what the hell is going on here? Who is that? And why are you letting him near the book?"

"Um, well. You see, Paige was turned to stone by a titan. You remember her telling you about those dreams she'd been having? And then there was the weird whether. And then a titan came and turned Paige to stone." She paused. "Oh, and that's Chris. He's from the future."

"Okay, you had better tell me that all this happened within the last thirty minutes."

"No. Paige and I went up to find out what was wrong and she got into her head that she could draw out the titans by orbing because apparently they're looking for white lighters." Piper glared at her sister.

"And why didn't you call me?"

"Well, we didn't know how bad it was," Phoebe said a little sheepishly, "and we didn't want to bother you unless we had to."

"Bother me?" Piper stared at her sister like she was crazy. "The manor is overrun by supernatural creatures. Paige has been turned to stone. And, hey!" She turned to Chris. "Futureboy. Away from the book!"

"Oh, come on, Piper. It's not like I haven't looked through it before," Chris said, but he did step to the side. Piper, still angry, started where he had left off.

"Piper, look. I'm sorry," Phoebe followed her, "but it's just…you seemed so happy these past few weeks, and we didn't want to ruin it if it was something we could have handled on our own." Piper met Phoebe's eyes and the sincerity there made her anger melt. She glanced over at the reason why she had been happy lately.

"You think you could do something?" She asked him. Cole frowned, staring at Paige.

"I don't know. Most of the powers I have are…destructive." Phoebe crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"And just how many powers _do _you have?" Cole simply smirked at her. Piper opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Leo, who orbed in.

"Another Whitelighter's been killed…" He trailed off when he caught sight of Piper. She stared back at him, suddenly very aware that she was still barefoot and wearing one of Cole's shirts.

"Leo, hi. What are you…?"

"The other Elders sent me to warn you since you have no whitelighter at the moment."

* * *

"What I want is for you to tell the truth." Piper, Phoebe, and Paige glared at Chris. They had gotten Paige back, only to realize that the titans were after the elders. And now Leo was missing in action as well. Chris sighed and met each of their gazes, including Cole's, who was standing off the side. He held up his hands.

"Don't look at me." He said, shrugging.

"What is this about us supposedly fighting the titans?" Chris grinned at that question.

"You're about to find out."

"What does…" Piper trailed off when she felt it. Cole and Chris watched from the sidelines while an incredibly bright light surrounded the girls. When it cleared, Cole's eyes widened and Chris' smile widened.

Phoebe lifted her now long blonde hair and Piper stared down at the white robes that they were now wearing. She glared at Chris.

"What the hell did you do?!"

"_I _didn't do anything." Chris said, still grinning. "You're gods." Piper stared at him.

* * *

"No, no. You're not coming." Piper said to Cole. She had just ejected Phoebe's "followers" and now they were heading out to find the elders, who were apparently under attack.

"I'm not staying here while you go fight."

"Yes, you are. It's too dangerous."

"I'm invincible, remember? Immune to magic." Piper shook her head.

"Immune to witches magic. Not gods magic, Cole."

"Yeah, well, neither are you. Not even with this power from what the kid said."

"Hey." Chris spoke up, receiving glares from the witch turned goddess and invincible half demon. He held his hands up. "Can we maybe argue after the elders are safe?" Cole sighed and stepped closer to her.

"I _can _take care of myself, Piper."

"I know." She said. It wasn't that, it was what they were fighting that had her worried. This was one of those apocalyptic like fights and she was a little bit terrified that something would happen.

* * *

"You know," Piper settled into Cole's embrace, "it really says something when you're not surprised to receive the powers of a god to fight off seemingly all powerful ancient evil that wants to destroy the world." She flared the robes she was wearing.

"Hey, I'm a hundred year old half demon who's fell for two of the charmed ones. At this point, one of the titans declaring his undying love for Paige wouldn't surprise me." Piper snorted, linking one of their hands together. She sighed when she heard Paige calling.

* * *

"They'll be here any minute!" Phoebe said anxiously. They knew what they had to do, but Piper was afraid of the consequences of that action. She squeezed Cole's hand, looking up at him just as the titans appeared.

Before she could react, one of the sent a bolt of lightening their way that hit Cole square in the chest. The force of it had him flying straight through the windows and outside.

"No!" She turned to the titans and they flew away from her, crashing into the opposite wall. They were up immediately, facing her. The lightening and fire they sent her way did nothing, though. Piper smiled at them grimly and opened her arms, watching as the floor opened up and the earth swallowed them whole.

"You did it." Leo said, coming up to them, and smiling sadly at Piper. "You found your power. Now it's time to give it back." Piper nodded, frowning.

* * *

Cole jerked into a sitting position and looked around, feeling a little disoriented. He was outside, sitting in the grass. He frowned when he looked up at the familiar sight of the manor.

"What the hell?" He stood up. The window he'd been lying in front of was broken out.

"How the hell did I get here?" He hadn't been to the manor or seen the sisters in months, not since Phoebe had rejected him, again. Why would he come back here, and why couldn't he remember doing it?

Maybe they had tried to vanquish him again. He shook his head. The thought, that Phoebe might have tried to kill him, didn't hurt like it should have, like it would have a few months ago.

When he heard the sisters talking inside, he scowled and shimmered out. When he reappeared back in his apartment, he only thought about it for a little bit before deciding to just get the hell out of there. He wouldn't give them the chance to practice their vanquishing potions on him.

* * *

"What's wrong?" Paige asked after Leo had left. They had just given back the power.

"I don't know." Piper frowned. "I just…you get the feeling like there's something we're forgetting?"

"I say we should be happy. The titans are gone. We're back to normal." Phoebe said.

"Was it Leo?" Paige asked, sitting next to Piper on the couch.

"What?"

"Well, seeing him again. You know, the first time after he left and all…"

"No, it's not Leo." In fact, it hadn't hurt at all to see Leo, which should be strange. Even if she was moving on, it wasn't like she'd moved on to someone new.

"Hey." Chris said coming into the room.

"Chris." Piper said, eyeing him.

"Oh, don't tell me you guys still don't trust me. Come on, I did help you save the world." He frowned. "Where's Cole?" Phoebe's eyes widened.

"Cole? As in Cole Turner?"

"Uh, yeah." Chris stared at her. He knew that Cole and Piper were supposed to of gotten back together by now. He frowned. Why hadn't Cole shown up for the fight with the titans? It was strange. He wouldn't have just left Piper to fight alone.

"You know Cole? Oh, please don't tell me that we're crazy enough to let him back into our lives in the future." Phoebe said, shocked.

"When was the last time you've seen him?"

"Chris, we haven't seen Cole in months. Not since the whole mermaid incident. I thought he left town or something. Now, you didn't answer my question." Chris ignored her, standing up, a little bit in shock.

He started out of the room, still ignoring the sisters calling him. He was almost out of the room when he heard Piper asking how the window had gotten broken.

Was this and unintentional change that he'd made by saving Paige and helping the sisters defeat the titans? It had to be. He'd heard a lot of stories growing up and none of them included Piper forgetting her relationship with Cole.

Chris closed his eyes briefly. He didn't have Leo's sensing power to be exact, but he had developed a sort of one over the years. Plus, he and Cole were connected. There was a spell they had used once so that they could find each other if they got separated. He hoped that it would work on this Cole the way that it did for the one he had grown up with.

Chris orbed out, relieved when he did sense that Cole was alive at least and in this world. He reappeared in Cole's apartment and knew that he was gone. His getaway bag was gone.

Chris rubbed his temples. Cole would never leave Piper, not willingly at least, which could only mean one thing. He didn't remember either. That would explain why Chris didn't remember seeing Cole since he had come back. Someone had erased the last few months, at least the moments with Cole in them.

"This is _so _not good." How was he supposed to convince Piper that she was in love with a man she was supposed to hate?

* * *

Okay, so I hope this is okay. I know I skipped over a lot of the episode, but I hate rewriting stuff that's already been written. I just didn't feel the need to rewrite the whole thing when I'm sure that everyone's seen this episode.

Okay, so _if_ Cole is Chris' father, I still don't think Chris would disappear just because Piper and Cole don't remember each other. I don't think he would unless one of his parents died, at least not unless they missed his conception date like in the show.


	2. Incomplete

"Look, I know you don't trust Chris for some reason, Leo but he hasn't done anything but help. He helped us defeat the titans, didn't he?"

"Yes, I know that. But he's also lying, Paige." Paige turned to Piper, who was standing at the sink, to try and get her to back her up. She frowned.

"Uh, honey, are you alright?" She asked, coming over to her sister. Piper had been in the middle of washing dishes but she was now staring into space. Paige put a hand on her shoulder, breaking her out of her daze.

"Piper?" She smiled a little at Paige.

"I'm fine." She said, turning around.

"Yeah." Paige said, but her frown didn't leave. She'd been a little worried about Piper lately. "You've been acting a little…out of it lately. Are you sure there's nothing wrong?"

"What could be wrong?" She asked, starting out of the room. Leo frowned as well.

"You've noticed too, huh?" He nodded. "At first, I thought it was because of-" Paige cut off.

"Me. I know. But it isn't." He looked after Piper. "She's over me." Paige sighed.

"I'm sorry, Leo." He shrugged, going over to the counter.

"It's okay. It's what I wanted, after all. For her to be happy, to move on…" Paige walked over as well, facing him.

"Which just proves what a good guy you are." She said with confidence. He smiled a little at her and let out a breath.

"So, what do you think is wrong?" Paige frowned.

"I don't know. It's weird. I mean, she said that she feels like she's missing something." Her frown deepened. "Maybe I should ask Chris."

"Why? You think he did something to Piper?" Paige rolled her eyes.

"No, I don't. I think he's from the future, and might know what's going on." She held up a hand. "Look, I understand you wanting to look out for us, but I don't think you have to worry about Chris."

* * *

"Chris!" Paige called in exasperation when she'd gotten to the attic. Chris was hardly at the manor since the titans had been defeated. He'd only come twice, and that was to get them to vanquish demons.

"Paige, what is it?" Chris asked as soon as he orbed in. Paige glared when she caught the irritation in his voice.

"We need to talk."

"Look, I really don't have time for this-"

"I'm really sorry I'm taking you away from whatever demon you're pissing off at the moment, but this is important."

"Why? what happened?" He asked, his voice changing from irritated to concerned. "Did you guys get attacked?"

"No, but Piper has been acting strange the titans were vanquished. I was wondering if you knew why."

"Why would I know why?" Paige's eyes narrowed.

"Well, you are from the future, and you seem to know a hell of a lot about us…" Chris raised an eyebrow.

"You really think they put Piper's mood swings in the history books?" She glared at him again, crossing her arms.

"Chris-"

"I _really _need to go, Paige. I don't have time for this." He interrupted her, orbing out. She sighed, throwing her arms up.

* * *

Chris looked around the place carefully. He had orbed out of the attic and out of San Francisco. He'd been about to go check things out when Paige had started calling.

He hadn't tried talking to the girls yet, not really. He had decided to try and find out what had happened to make Cole and Piper forget about each other first. He couldn't find anything, though.

Neither of them was doing very well, something he had expected. He remembered the way Cole had been after Piper died. If there was anything that Chris believed it was that Piper and Cole _belonged _together. They were meant for each other.

Chris glanced into the bar he knew that Cole was at. He'd moved away from San Francisco and into some tiny apartment in Florida, as far away from the sisters he could get without leaving the country. When he looked inside, though, he didn't see Cole.

"Why are you following me?" Chris had barely turned when someone was dragging him down an alley and pushing him up against the wall. He met Cole's suspicious blue eyes.

"I'm not a demon." He said, holding up his hands.

"I know that, kid." Cole glared at him. "What I want to know is why a whitelighter is following me."

"I'm…" Chris sighed. "I'm the sister's new whitelighter." Cole scowled.

"Of course you are." He let go of Chris. "What do they want with me?"

"Nothing. They don't really like you much."

"Yeah, I know that. So, why are you here?" Chris considered his answer for a moment, but he couldn't find anything out in the underworld. Maybe if he talked to him…

"I'm from the future." He said calmly, watching Cole for his reaction.

"Right. Of course you are. Still doesn't answer the question." Chris sighed and ran a hand over his face, pacing a little away from Cole.

"Look, I'm sorry, alright? I didn't intend for this to happen. Something I did changed things. Something happened I didn't expect when I convinced Leo to help the girls vanquish the titans." Cole crossed his arms.

"What are you talking about?" Chris smiled a little at him. He could see the concern in the depths of Cole's eyes.

"You're not supposed to be here." What he had seen in Cole's eyes disappeared at that, and he turned to walk away.

"Wait." Chris caught up with him after he left the alley.

"So, what's the deal? Was I not supposed to leave town after all? Were the girls supposed to vanquish me in your future? Sorry, kid. I'm not going back so they can figure out how to kill me."

"No, that's not what I meant." Chris grabbed Cole's arm to stop him, but released the man immediately when Cole turned a glare on him. "Don't you get it? Do you really think I'd come all the way here if they wanted to vanquish you? I meant that you're not supposed to be in Florida. You're supposed to be in San Francisco."

"Excuse me? Kid, the girls pretty much hate me, like you said. They wanted me to leave. There's no way that they would want me there."

"Not even if you were in love with one of them." Cole crossed his arms again.

"I don't know what kind of info you've got, kid, but Phoebe and I haven't been together for months."

"I'm not talking about Phoebe." Cole raised an eyebrow, and Chris hesitated again before continuing. He knew that Cole would never believe that he and Phoebe would get back together. "I'm talking about Piper." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Cole turned and started walking away once again.

"Look, I'm not lying." Chris said, pacing him. "I know it's crazy, but it is the truth. Sometime during the last year after you and Phoebe split, you and Piper-" Cole turned to him.

"Kid, I don't know what you think you're doing, or why, but if you wanted to play me, you got your information wrong. Hell, there's a better chance of me switching sides and hooking up with Leo." Chris made a face at that, really not wanting to imagine Cole and Leo, two men he had known his whole life. Two men who had declared themselves family. Several times.

"That's really not funny."

"Neither is coming here and telling me that I'm in love with Piper." Chris picked up his pace, stepping in front of Cole and stopping him in his tracks.

"I really am from the future. And I'm telling the truth." Cole considered him for a moment.

"Okay, let's say that you are. Why do you care?"

"I'm trying to save the future." He said, an idea forming. "I can't do that without the charmed ones. And, I know for a fact that without you, they won't be around long enough for anything." He wasn't lying exactly. He knew that Cole had saved the girls lives, several times. He almost smiled when he saw the concern jump back into Cole's eyes. Even if he couldn't remember it, Cole and Piper would always be connected. Still, Chris could see that Cole didn't believe him.

"What if I could find a way to give you proof?"

"And how are you going to do that?"

"I'm not sure yet, but I'm working on reversing whatever was done to make you guys forget. I'll be back." Chris orbed out after that.

He hoped that Cole was thinking about it. Chris knew that he didn't believe him, but he also knew that he'd at least be thinking about it. Maybe telling Cole the truth would make whatever magic had done this easier to reverse.

* * *

Piper flipped through the book a little half heartedly, more to have something to do than anything else. She knew that her sisters were worried about her, but she couldn't give them an explanation on how she was feeling.

She just had the distinct impression that something was…missing. That _she _was missing something. Half the time, she felt like she was supposed to be somewhere but she didn't know where.

She felt a little bit apathetic about it all. Demon hunting, P3. It wasn't Leo, even though he seemed to be hanging around a little bit more since Chris had become their whitelighter. She hadn't felt this way after Leo left. She'd been angry and miserable but this was an entirely different feeling.

She felt like none of it was important, because she should be doing _something. _She felt like she should be guilty or worried about something, she just didn't know what. Looking down at the book, Piper sighed.

"I can't keep on like this." She said. She had written a spell, but was unsure about casting it. Last time she had cast a spell on herself it hadn't exactly worked out well. But this feeling…it was worse than the feeling she had when Leo left. This feeling of being incomplete.

It wasn't her best, but she wasn't the spell writing expert in the family, and it should work. She'd wrote it because she was afraid that this feeling she'd been having had something supernatural behind it. If it was just her, it shouldn't do anything…

__

"Bring me what magic may have cost

What I've missed, what I've lost

Demons or curse or witches mistake

Bring me what will make me stop feeling fake."

For several seconds, nothing happened, and then she saw it working. She watched the center of the attic as someone began to form there, and when he did fully form, her jaw dropped in shock.

"Cole." She said, staring at him. After a moment, anger welled in her and without thinking; she lifted her hands and used her power. It didn't hurt him, she didn't expect it to. "What did you do to me?"

* * *

Cole had been thinking about what the kid had said, and he had formed only one conclusion. They were trying to drive him crazy. There was no way in hell Piper Halliwell would ever fall for him.

He was angry afterwards. Hadn't he done what they wanted? He'd left town, left Phoebe and her sisters alone, he was trying to move on. He thought he should have been succeeding, too. He didn't love Phoebe anymore, that much he knew.

Something was…missing, though. He chalked it up to the fact that he really didn't have anything in this life. He'd given up everything he'd ever known for Phoebe and without her he really didn't know what to do, even if he didn't love her anymore.

He didn't truthfully consider the whitelighter's words. They were ridiculous. Maybe the kid really was from the future. Maybe they did just want to vanquish him again. This thought made him even angrier.

He didn't expect one of the girls to summon him. He really didn't expect to be standing in front of Piper when he appeared in the Halliwell attic. He was not surprised, though, when she tried to blow him up.

* * *

Chris was frustrated. He'd been searching relentlessly and found no way to get Piper and Cole back together nor had he found a way to get the proof that he had promised Cole.

He had orbed straight back to the attic from the underworld to find the two people he'd been trying to save trying to kill each other.

* * *

"Excuse me?" Cole said, standing up after Piper's blow had knocked him off his feet.

"You heard me." She said in fury, raising her hands again, but not using her power.

"I didn't do anything to you, Piper." He said, just as angry now. "So, what? You send your boy to mess with me before summoning me? You can't kill me, Piper!"

"My boy?" Piper asked.

"The whitelighter." Cole growled, stepping closer to her. Piper's face paled and then rage flashed in her eyes again. Chris chose that moment to orb in and Piper and Cole both turned glares on him.

"You!" She said. "Are you working with him or something? Did _you _do this?"

"What sort of game are you two playing?" Cole asked at the same time. Chris held up his hands, his gaze on Cole for the moment.

"I'm not playing any games. I was telling you the truth." Cole's glare intensified a bit more and Chris took a step back, not used to that look being directed at him.

"Right. I'm in love with the witch that just tried to blow me up?"

"I-" Chris was cut off and his eyes widened when several demons shimmered into the attic, all with energy balls in hand.

Cole, without thinking about it, grabbed Piper and dove to the ground, covering her body with his, protecting her. He lifted only enough to send several of his own energy balls at the demons and Chris took out the ones that he didn't.

Cole looked down at Piper, concerned despite what had happened before the demons had shimmered in. Their noses were almost touching, and he stared down into her eyes for several seconds before, without thinking, he leaned down and kissed her and his world shifted for the second time in two weeks.


	3. Invincible

"Oh my god." Piper stared up into Cole's eyes after he'd pulled back for several seconds, and then she pulled him back down for another kiss. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed herself against him.

Everything came back in a rush. Meeting him in that bar after Leo had left, bringing him dinner, the long conversations they'd had when they were still just friends, working out with him, kissing him, making love…

When they finally broke the kiss, Piper put a hand to his cheek, smiling and Cole sat up, not letting her go. She ended up in his lap, still pressed up against him.

"We're alone now." He whispered to her and for the first time she noticed that Chris wasn't in the room anymore. She felt a brief moment of gratitude towards the white lighter for that before she was leaning forward to kiss him again.

* * *

"Please tell me you remember." Chris said as soon as Phoebe and Paige orbed into the manor.

"Remember what?" Paige asked, starting into the kitchen to get something to eat.

"Uh. Cole?" He said a little tentatively, remembering their reaction last time he'd brought Cole's name up.

"What about him?" Phoebe asked. "He's with Piper, isn't he?"

"Thank you!" Chris yelled, all the frustration he'd been feeling over the past weeks leaving. "You do remember." He frowned. "But you don't remember not remembering." Paige frowned as well.

"Chris, what are you talking about?"

* * *

"So, wait." Paige stood up. "You're saying that someone erased our memories." Piper nodded, leaning into Cole's side. She hadn't been able to let go of him since she had remembered everything.

"Just the memories of us." She indicated Cole and herself.

"But why would anyone want to do that?"

"Maybe because they couldn't kill either of you?" Phoebe suggested. "I mean Piper's a charmed one and Cole's invincible."

"Still, why would anyone want to keep us apart? And I'm not invincible." Piper said.

"No, but your dating someone who is. Think about it, together you're pretty much unstoppable. Or, it could just be payback."

"Maybe. We need to find out who it is, so it doesn't happen again."

"We will."

* * *

"Whoever it is won't try it this way again, not after it failed." Phoebe said, making her way upstairs to the attic.

"Yeah. Question is what they're going to try now. I mean, whoever this is, are they after Cole or Piper or all of us? I mean, are we sure that it's a demon?"

"Don't know. Piper's right, we do need to find them."

"Yeah, but how? We don't have anything to go on. Except the fact that whoever it is, is powerful enough to erase the memories of everyone person who knew that Piper and Cole were together."

"True. So, whoever this is obviously didn't count on Chris." Phoebe went over to the book and opened it. "Or that we just wouldn't believe him. Which would be true. I mean, none of us trusted Cole before Piper started talking to him again."

"Yeah, some of us hated him too." Paige reminded her. Phoebe smiled a little at her sister. Paige still didn't particularly like Cole.

"You think Chris found anything?"

* * *

Piper pulled Cole closer to her as he set her on her knees on his bed. The kiss that they hadn't broken since he had shimmered them out of the manor and to his place was still going as Piper pushed his jacket off his shoulders. She only broke it when his shirt needed to go and she stopped for a moment, staring into his eyes.

"I love you." She whispered. He smiled at her.

"Love you too." And then they were kissing again and the both of them fell back on his bed.

* * *

"Hey, Leo." Paige smiled as he orbed in some time later. Phoebe had gone already.

"Hey. I heard about what happened." Paige nodded and closed the book with a sigh.

"Yeah, unfortunately we can't really do anything about it. Not a lot to go on." Paige watched him for a moment. "I know this still isn't exactly easy for you." Leo gave her a half smile and sat down on the couch.

"Its okay, Paige. I mean, it's hard sometimes, but I think seeing her move on, really move on is helping me do the same." Paige walked over to sit next to him.

"Well, if you ever need to talk, I'm here." She offered, and Leo's smile widened.

"Thanks."

* * *

Piper smiled, content, as she rested her head on Cole's shoulder and watched him sleep. She felt at peace for the first time in weeks. She felt complete, whole.

She still remembered the weeks after he had disappeared from her life. Her sisters did as well, but they didn't seem to think anything strange had happened. Whatever spell that was cast seemed to work in a way that they didn't think anything strange about the fact that they hadn't seen Cole over the past weeks, that was until Piper had pointed it out to them.

Despite how angry she was that someone would do this, she was still relieved that they loved each other enough to come back from it. All it had taken was a kiss to break the spell, after all.

Still, she shuddered slightly when she thought of what might have happened if she hadn't cast that spell that brought Cole to her, of what might have happened if Chris hadn't been there.

True, she had been miserable when Leo left, but she had closure with him. She knew where he was and why he had left. The last few weeks, though, she had been feeling like she was missing a part of herself and she hadn't known why. And that was worse.

She doubted that Cole would have ever come back to San Francisco on his own. Before they had started talking, they hadn't liked each other much. In fact, Piper was willing to admit that she might have hated him a little bit for what he did to Phoebe.

There were so many possibilities. Would they still have ended up here if she had chosen a different bar to go to that night? Would he have stayed in San Francisco, but for Phoebe?

None of that mattered, she guessed. All that did matter was that they were together and that they were happy. She loved him. And she wouldn't lose him, no matter who it was messing with them.

* * *

Chris reappeared back in P3 with a sigh. He hadn't found anything yet about whoever it was out to get Piper and Cole. Of course, he had been searching for a while now and nothing. He had known it wouldn't be quick but it was still frustrating.

Whoever it was had to be stepping up their plans and he knew that it had to be something he'd changed while in the past. The only major thing he'd changed so far was helping the sisters get rid of the titans a little bit earlier, which helped save most of the elders.

He didn't like lying to the girls, especially the lie about how Paige died, but he did need them to trust him. So, he'd lied and Paige actually did die a few years after what he'd told Piper and Phoebe.

At least Piper and Cole were back on track. That was a must. Neither would live long without the other, Chris had seen that firsthand.

If he couldn't fix the future, he had to at least make sure that he didn't screw it up worse. Piper and Cole had to stay together. There were so many times that Piper could have died, and a lot sooner than she did, if it weren't for Cole.

Leo was there too, although for different reasons this time around, so it didn't seem like he'd screwed things up too bad.

* * *

"Cole!" Piper cried, diving off the side of the bed as an energy ball was sent in her direction. Cole jerked awake, standing quickly to face the demon that had shimmered into his bedroom.

The demon sent another but it only knocked Cole back a step before he sent his own. Piper watched as the demon was vanquished, and stood up, holding the sheet around herself and warily looking for more demons.

A few seconds later, several more did shimmer in and they were suddenly engaged in a battle. All of them seemed to be focused on Cole, and barely looked in Piper's direction, not even when she blew two of them up.

Neither of them noticed the figure that appeared behind Cole or the potion vial until it was thrown, connecting with Cole's back. Cole stopped short as he was preparing to throw another energy ball, and stood still, stunned.

The second was enough for the last of the demons to hit its mark. This time, however, Cole was thrown off his feet by the attack. Piper raised her hands and blew the demon up.

"Cole?" Piper made her way over to him as he sat up. "You okay?" He nodded, frowning.

"Yeah, I think so." She frowned as well.

"Are you sure?"

"I don't know." He admitted, looking down at himself. "I feel a little…weird, I guess." He started to get up, inadvertently setting his hand in the broken remnants of the lamp that he had knocked over when he'd jumped out of bed. He winced, pulling his hand back.

"Cole…?" Piper stared. The wound didn't heal.

* * *

"I don't understand." The young man said, following the woman into the office. "Why not just strip his powers?" The woman gave him an annoyed look.

"I have told you why. If you will just remember what happened the last time someone tried to strip his powers…" She smiled a little. "All I had to do was make sure he is no longer invincible. Only stripping that one power…Now all _we _have to do is convince _them _of the threat that he poses."


	4. Chris' Whitelighter

"Hey." Phoebe looked up at her sister as Piper walked into the attic. "What happened now?" She asked when she saw the look on Piper's face.

"I'm not sure, actually. Cole's not invincible anymore." Phoebe's eyes widened.

"What? How did that happen? Where is he anyway?" Piper shook her head.

"I don't know how it happened. About half a dozen demons shimmered in and attacked us. One of them had to of thrown a potion or something. Cole thought it would be a good idea to go down to the underworld to check things out."

"And you're worried." She nodded, sitting down on the couch.

"The thing is that the demons didn't even seem to be after me, just Cole. They pretty much ignored me, even after I blew several of them up. And Cole still has his powers; he's just not invincible anymore." Phoebe frowned.

"But how could a demon do that? And if they did have the power to strip him of his invincibility, why not all his powers?" Piper stood up, pacing a little.

"I don't know. I mean, we wouldn't try that again after what happened last time. His powers didn't just disappear when I stripped them last time. The thing is that any demon would love that, wouldn't they? As far as we know, Cole is one of the most powerful magical beings in existence. Stripping his powers and then taking them for themselves, wouldn't that be something that a demon would want? Which just makes me think…"

"That it might not be a demon." Phoebe finished for her.

"Not to mention the fact that no demon would know how to strip Cole of his powers. I'm the one who made that potion; I'm the only one who knows the ingredients. And again that was just a stripping potion. It wasn't selective."

"No." Phoebe frowned. "But you could you have made it selective if you wanted to?" Piper's eyes narrowed she stalked out of the room.

"Piper?" Phoebe followed her. Piper went into her room and went over to the desk beside her bed, digging inside for something. She came up empty handed and turned to Phoebe.

"It's gone." She said looking a little bit scared now. "I don't understand, I made sure that you, Paige and Cole were the only ones who could touch it."

"Touch what?" Piper sighed.

"I sort of came up with another idea when Barbas attacked Cole. When I thought his powers were driving him crazy. You know a way to not leave him completely defenseless but also take away some of his more…destructive powers. I figured it might be enough to keep them from driving him off the deep end. After all, he spent months with Belthazor's powers as a good guy."

"A selective stripping potion?" Phoebe asked. Piper nodded.

"But I didn't have time to get it right then. The power stripping potion was sort of the only option I had."

"So, what? We're dealing with someone who might want to hurt Cole, but doesn't want to strip his powers."

"And the book that I had there was the info I needed to make that potion. Meaning that it has info on all of his powers." Phoebe sighed, rubbing a hand across her forehead.

"So who would want to kill Cole but wouldn't want his powers for themselves?" Piper sat down, letting out a sigh of her own.

"A witch maybe? I don't know someone who has got it in for him that's not a demon. Remember Emma? Maybe it's another person from his past, from when he was still Belthazor, or even when the Source was possessing him."

"Someone who also knows what happened when you stripped his powers." Piper nodded.

"And someone who isn't above working with demons to get the job done." She finished.

"Well, Chris has been checking things out. He said he hasn't found anything yet, but I'm sure he will."

* * *

"I know you're here." Chris said anger in his voice. He turned as she orbed in.

"Chris. Good to see you too." He glared at her.

"What are you doing here? Are you nuts?" He knew the answer to that question, though. She hadn't been right for a while now, not since her children had been taken from her.

"I'm doing what has to be done." She said calmly. "What no one else will do."

"Killing Cole?" He asked, sighing and rubbing a hand over his eyes warily. "What happened in the future…what happened to you…it's not his fault."

"No? You sure about that?"

"Yes." Chris said firmly. "I was there, remember? You're not the only one who lost everything."

"Everything but him." She said with contempt.

"I won't let you do this." Chris said calmly, wondering why he was even trying to reason with her. She wasn't in her right mind, and was fixated on Cole since she couldn't hurt the person who had really taken everything from her.

"Are you going to kill me, Chris?" She asked, tilting her head to the side and watching him. "You could never do it before." It was the truth. No matter what, he didn't know if he could bring himself to hurt her. It wasn't her fault she was like this, but it wasn't Cole's either.

"If you do this, you kill me too." He reminded her. There was an instant of clarity, of regret, in her eyes before it was gone, replaced by the familiar madness they had held for so long now.

"I'll do what I have to." She repeated. "You came back here to change things, didn't you?"

"But not like this!" Chris said, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, Chris." She said, and orbed out. Chris stared at the spot where she had been, before sitting down in one of the chairs in the empty room. He put his head in his hands. He wasn't expecting this, and it was another problem he had to deal with.

How was he supposed to convince the sisters of this one? Maybe he could deal with this one on his own. He never wanted his mom and aunts to know about these types of things. He wondered how he would take it if they found out who was trying to take Cole out.

He wondered if she was working alone, if she had brought anyone else back with her, not that there were many people to bring back. He looked up when he heard the sound of someone else orbing in and his eyes widened when he saw who it was.

"Kyle?"

* * *

"Find anything?" Piper asked Cole, after she had assured herself that he wasn't injured. He shook his head.

"No one knows anything. At least no one that I've talked to." Piper nodded. She had been expecting that, with the things that she and Phoebe had worked out.

"Yeah. Phoebe and I sort of had a theory on that."

"That it's not a demon." Cole asked, sitting down next to her on the couch in the attic. "I've been thinking about what happened too."

"You remember when I told you about that selective stripping potion idea I had when Barbas attacked? Well, the notes I had on that are gone."

"Which means whoever is doing this has is probably going to figure out a way to vanquish me."

"They're not going to get the chance." Piper said, steel in her voice.

"This means we need to find whoever it is first." Phoebe spoke up from in front of the book. "Problem is, it isn't going to be easy, not without more to go on. Hopefully Chris will find something."

"The kids looking into this?" Cole asked.

"Yeah. He seems real worried about it, too." Cole shrugged.

"Well, without him, we probably still wouldn't remember all this." Piper nodded.

"I still need to thank him for that one."

* * *

"What are you doing?" Chris asked, standing up. "You said you'd look after her."

"Why do you think I'm here Chris? I followed her back when I figured out what she was planning." Chris sighed.

"How is everyone there? Cole and Leo?" Kyle hesitated for a moment.

"We really should be talking about what's going on here, don't you think? This could make everything so much worse." But Chris saw something in Kyle's eyes that he didn't like, saw the hesitation.

"What is it? What happened?" He stepped closer to Kyle. "Tell me." He said when Kyle remained silent.

"Cole's dead, Chris." He said softly.

"What?" Chris sat down again heavily, and his face paled. "She…she didn't…?" Kyle shook his head.

"No, it wasn't her. I don't know how it happened. It shouldn't have been possible. I mean, all these years and no ones ever been able to vanquish him, and then all the sudden…"

"It is her." Chris said softly. "She changed the future. Made a potion to strip him of his invincibility. Made it possible for someone to kill him. He wouldn't have known…" Kyle sat down next to him, just as heavily.

"I'm sorry, Chris." He said after a moment. "I should have been watching more closely." Chris shook his head.

"I shouldn't have come back." He didn't cry, not right then.

"You came back to change it."

"At the cost of his life." Chris said bitterly. Kyle shook his head.

"You can change that. You came back to change it. To change it all, right? He believed in you." Chris felt his eyes burn.

"I didn't even talk to him before I left. I didn't think he'd let me do it if I did. I thought he'd try and stop me." Kyle smiled sadly.

"He probably would have."

"What if I don't succeed? What if I don't change anything? Then he's really just gone, and I didn't…" Kyle put an arm around his shoulders as he tried to face the fact that one of the last members of his family was gone.

"He's still alive, Chris. Here, in this time. Maybe you should focus on that, on the fact that you can change the outcome of all this." Chris nodded, rubbing the tears out of his eyes.

"I should probably go talk to the sisters. They're waiting for me." Kyle nodded. "You're staying, right?"

"For now, of course." Kyle shrugged, standing with him. "It's my job to look out for you, right?" Chris smiled slightly at him before orbing out, back to the manor.

* * *

Kyle sighed when Chris orbed out and sat there for several minutes, contemplating how badly everything was screwed up. It was supposed to be his job to look after Chris, but he hadn't done great at that.

He had thought the elders were trying to torture him somehow when they had assigned him as Chris' whitelighter. He had even been slightly surprised that the elders even did assign Chris a whitelighter, considering who Chris was.

True, they had waited a couple of years after he had become a whitelighter to assign him to Chris, given him time, at least in their minds, to get over his feelings for Paige. Still, it hadn't been easy at first.

Now, here he was. Back in the time before he had even met Paige. It was strange to think that it was still a year from now before he would be getting involved in her life.

He'd had to come here, though. He'd had to follow her back. It wasn't even a real choice, especially after what had happened to Cole. Kyle was relieved that Chris was here. Cole's death had been a horrible thing to witness and he was glad that Chris hadn't been there to see it.

Sighing, he orbed out, intending to find the person who was going to screw up the future in even worse ways.

* * *

When Chris orbed back to the manor, for a moment he just stared at them. At Piper and Cole, sitting on the couch in the attic together. At Phoebe, standing at the book. He'd been doing a good job of separating these people from the ones he had grown up with, of cutting himself off from them, but seeing Kyle, hearing his revelation about Cole…

"Hey." Phoebe said. "Find anything?" Chris blinked, looking over at her. It was Cole who frowned at him, who stood up.

"You alright?" He asked, and Chris shook his head, trying to get his emotions in check.

"Uh…I-" He cut off, and wished that Cole would stop looking at him, wished that he'd just sit back down. "I'm still…looking, actually." He got out finally. They were all frowning at him now, though. And then Phoebe's frown deepened and a look of pain crossed over her face.

"Chris, what happened to you?" She asked. Panic flared for a moment when he realized that she had gotten some of his emotions.

"Nothing. I have to go. I'll keep looking." He orbed out immediately, reappearing back at P3, and collapsing on the couch. That shouldn't have happened. He shouldn't have orbed straight to the manor after talking to Kyle. Phoebe could only channel his emotions when they were particularly out of control.

Unable to stop it, he felt the tears forming. When he closed his eyes, he came up with a vivid image of his mom and her sisters vanquishing Cole.

Once, when he was ten, and he and one of his cousins had found out that Phoebe and Cole had a relationship before Cole and Piper, they had inadvertently sent themselves to the past when a potion went wrong. All they had been wondering was why Phoebe and Cole had broken up. All they had seen was them vanquishing Cole.

Chris had been more than a little confused, and more than a little angry at the sisters for a while after that, until finally, reluctantly, Cole had told him the whole story.

Now, knowing what had happened in the future after he had left, the image of him dying, of him bursting into flames and disappearing kept playing over and over again in his head, and he cried for the first time in a long time.


	5. The Wrong Way

"Did you talk to her?" Chris asked as soon as Kyle orbed up to the bridge beside him.

"No, she's blocking me out. I don't know where she is." Chris nodded and rubbed a hand across his temple.

"Well, even though Cole isn't invincible anymore, she won't be able to vanquish him by herself. He's still one of the most powerful demons in existence. It'd take more firepower than what she has by herself."

"That's true, but she can get help, and you know it. Cole's pissed off half of the underworld. A lot of them still see him as a traitor for changing sides back when he first met the girls, and a lot of others will see killing him as their ticket to the top seeing as how he was the last Source. It won't be hard to convince them."

"I know that," Chris let out a frustrated breath. "I grew up with him, remember? The sisters and Leo were the only ones who ever truly trusted him on either side." Chris glanced over at Chris.

"I'm sorry." He said softly. "I know that this is just as hard for you." Kyle shook his head, his eyes guarded. He'd cut himself off from it all again.

"We need to figure out what she's planning, Chris." Kyle said calmly.

"Her plan is to screw up mine. She thinks that killing Cole will solve everything, that it will save the future. She's completely gone off the deep end, Kyle. I mean, she was there when it happened; she was there when this family was destroyed. She should know that it wasn't his fault."

"She doesn't see that, and you know it. She only sees what Mel when she looks at him." Chris sighed, and sat down on the edge.

"It wasn't Mel's fault. I've tried to tell her that. This all started long before Mel even came into the picture."

"_I _know that." Kyle sat down next to him. "She won't see it. Chris, I think it's time you talked to the sisters and Cole about this." Chris shook his head immediately.

"And tell them what? You want me to go to them and tell them this? You honestly think they'll believe me? Even if they did, you know what it will do to them to find out all this?"

"Will it be worse than Cole dying now before he's supposed to? Worse than what Piper would go through if that happened? Worse than what would happen to you if he died here, now?"

"I just...I don't know if I can tell them." Chris said after a moment. Kyle opened his mouth to say something else, but frowned.

"What?" Chris asked warily.

"She's calling me." Chris stood up, worried.

"That can't be good." Kyle stood as well.

"I'll go talk to her." Chris shook his head.

"No way, Kyle. Not alone. You can't. She could be trying to trap you." Kyle nodded but he stepped away from Chris.

"I have to try. It's my job, after all. Talk to the sisters, Chris, and I have to believe that there's still something of what she used to be in there."

* * *

"Hey." Chris frowned when he orbed into the living room and found Cole lying on the couch, reading something. "Where are the sisters?"

"Piper's in the kitchen don't know about the other two." Cole threw whatever magazine he'd been reading aside with a look of disgust. "You need the girls? Demon problems?"

"You almost sound hopeful." Chris said, a little bit amused.

"Well, if you came here with something to distract Piper from the fact that I am no longer invincible, I'll be grateful."

"Sorry. I actually came here about that." Chris started towards the kitchen with Cole following. "Piper's being overprotective?" Cole shrugged.

"It's not like I'm completely powerless. I'm pretty sure that I've still got enough power to fight off a few demons. Hell, I'm still more powerful than I was before Phoebe stripped Belthazor from me." Chris just smiled. He knew that that wouldn't matter to Piper. She was always overprotective, even when Cole _was _invincible.

"Chris." Piper said when they both walked into the kitchen. "We've been trying to contact you."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry, but I was a little busy."

"Busy?" Chris nodded, glancing at Cole. "Did you find out anything?"

"Sort of." He said hesitantly. "Piper, I don't think it's a demon that's after Cole." Piper did not look surprised by this, though. She simply sighed and exchanged a glance with Cole.

"You knew?" Chris asked. Piper shook her head.

"We suspected from how it happened. Do you know who it is?" Chris hesitated again, and shook his head.

"No, not really. I just know that it's not a demon, although they are working with them. And, whoever it is...they can orb." That stopped her.

"Are you saying that whoever this is...that there is a whitelighter or an elder after Cole?" She looked over at her boyfriend, who did not share her shock.

"It's not that surprising." He said after a moment. He held up a hand when Piper opened her mouth. "Think about it, Piper. I have a feeling that they probably hate me just as much as most of the underworld does. I was the Source, after all. Phoebe turned to the other side because of me. Maybe they think history will repeat itself."

"That's ridiculous. They can't hold you responsible for the things that the Source did. You were possessed." She paused. "Of course, we are talking about the elders..." She let out a sigh. "So, not only do we need a way to protect you from demons, but from the supposedly good guys too?"

* * *

"Kyle." She smiled at him when he orbed in. "I knew you'd come." Kyle looked around the room before meeting her gaze.

"Did you bring me here to kill me too?" She shook her head.

"I brought you here to tell you that you can't stop me. This has to be done. It'll save everyone." Kyle stepped closer to her, and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"What about Chris? Don't you care about him? Don't you care that you'll kill him to if you do this?"

"What about everyone else, Kyle? What about my children? The city and all those people who've died? Jack, Ruby, Phoebe, Piper?" Kyle let out a frustrated breath, resisting the urge to shake her.

"You honestly think you'd be helping Piper if you do this?" She stepped back a few feet. Kyle dropped his arms. He could see it in her eyes. She was beyond anyone's reach. He felt tears start in his own eyes. "You think I don't miss them? You think I'm not angry about how Jack and Ruby died? I was there, remember?" He faught not to cry again. It was hard, talking about Jack and Ruby. The only way he got through it was cutting himself off from his own emotions and focusing on Chris and her.

"That's why I have to do this. I have to save everyone. Piper will move on, she'll find someone else. I have to save the power of three." She smiled sadly at him. "And I can't have you interfering." A second later, a potion hit his chest. He stumbled back.

"What was that?" He tried to orb out, but nothing happened.

"A new potion. It prevents you from orbing, at least for a little while. You'll see, after this is over. It'll work; Kyle, and then we'll be okay." He grabbed her wrist before she could leave.

"I love you." He said softly. "Please don't do this, not this way."

"I'm sorry." She said softly, reaching up and touching his cheek. "I love you too." She stepped back once again, and orbed out.

* * *

"You know I'm telling the truth. It has to be done." She faced the elder, standing on the bridge. She had to convince them.

"You wish us to face off against the charmed ones." She shook her head.

"No, I wish you to vanquish a demon that has caused my family more pain than any other in existence. For three years he has been there. He nearly killed Prue, Phoebe, and Piper when he first met them. He was the reason that Phoebe turned to evil, he nearly destroyed her, and that's just in the past three years. I could tell you about the future. How it's his fault that the side of good was decimated. How it's his fault that the charmed ones are no more. How it's his fault that my family is dead. It has to be done."

* * *

Cole sighed, and lay back on the couch in the attic. Chris had left again, but Piper was still a little bit freaked out over this. He didn't like sitting in the manor, doing nothing, though.

He wasn't sure what he could do. It wasn't like he had a lot of contacts with the side of good. He'd been a demon for a hundred years. Most of the ways he had of gathering information came from the underworld.

He had just gotten up when he felt it. It was sort of the same sensation he got when he shimmered only it was companied by bright lights. When they faded a second later, he was up on top of a bridge, and he wasn't alone.

"Bring me here to kill me?" He asked, staring at the five elders.

* * *

"Cole!" Piper ran into the attic, but it was empty.

"Piper what is it?" Phoebe asked when she came back downstairs.

"Cole's gone. He's not in the house." Phoebe frowned.

"Well, maybe he went to see if he could find out anything." Piper shook her head, really worried now.

"No, he would have told me."

"Uh, Piper, are you sure about that?" She asked skeptically. "I'm remembering all the times that he left the manor when we were dating when I asked him not to. Like the time that Leo orbed him to the underworld after his powers were stripped. You know that Cole doesn't do sitting still well."

"No, it's different. He knew that you would know then. He wouldn't leave now, not just to check things out. Especially now that we know that he probably won't find the answers in the underworld. Something's wrong, I can feel it."

"Okay, calm down." Paige spoke up. "We'll scry for him, find out where he is."

"But that'll take to much time. Whoever this is, what if they've already found a way to vanquish him. What if we're not there in time? I need to find him, now." Piper's worry spiked up another notch and a second later, she felt a strange sensation and the world blurred around her. When it came into focus, she was standing atop the bridge.

"What just happened?" She asked, looking around in surprise.

"Piper?" She stared at the elders standing before her before turning her head when she heard a groan.

"Cole!" She knelt beside him. His shirt was smoking and she ran a hand across his exposed chest. Thankfully, there wasn't any damage. Standing, and feeling rage boiling up, Piper faced the elders.

"So, it was you all along, was it? You're the ones who've been trying to kill him?" One of them shook his head.

"No, someone came to us, warned us that he was a threat to the future, and it seams that she was right seeing as how you shimmered here."

"I...what?" She shook her head, deciding to ignore this fact for the moment. "Who? Who was it? Who is doing this?"

"Me." A very familiar voice said as someone orbed in front of the elders. Piper stared at the woman before her.

"Paige?"


	6. The Horrible Truth

"Paige?" Piper stared at her incredulously.

"Hey, Piper." Paige said with an odd smile on her face, but Piper was staring at something else. She had been pretty sure that Paige's hair was red when she'd left the manor a minute before, for one. She also looked older. After meeting Chris, she didn't have to guess.

"You're not the one I left at the manor are you? You're from the future." She shook her head. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because he has to die, Piper!" She said, turning her gaze on Cole, hatred in her eyes. "He's the reason the future is so messed up."

"What are you talking about?" Piper asked, stepping in front of Cole when he stood up. She glanced at the elders. "You need to leave, now." They looked at each other before all but one orbed out.

"We will need to talk." He said before orbing out as well. Piper didn't even try to respond. She turned back to Paige.

"Tell me why, Paige."

"He's the reason the power of three broke, he's the reason that my children are dead. He's the reason that Chris came back!" Piper glanced back at Cole.

"Piper, I wouldn't-"

"I don't believe that." Piper interrupted him, her voice firm as she turned back to Paige.

"You have to!" Paige said a light coming into her eyes that Piper didn't like. Uneasily, she realized that it sort of reminded her of the look in Paige's eyes when she'd attacked Cole after being infected by a power broker.

"What happened to you?" She asked, unmoving. She couldn't risk Cole being hurt.

"What happened to me was watching my entire family die! And it's his fault."

"No, it's not." An unfamiliar voice said from beside Piper and Cole. Piper turned to see a young man with dark hair standing there. He stepped closer to Paige. "Potion wore off." He said, shrugging.

"You shouldn't have come here, Kyle." Kyle shook his head and stepped in front of Piper and Cole. "He has to die."

"And if I said that you'd have to go through me, would you do it? Would you kill me too?" He stepped up to her, and reached out, running a hand down her dark hair. "Would you kill your sister?" He pulled her to him. "Let me take care of you." He said softly before he orbed out. Piper stared at the spot they had just been.

"What the hell just happened?" Cole shook his head.

"How many people are going to be coming back?"

* * *

Kyle orbed into the manor attic, still holding Paige to him. When she opened her eyes, she started fighting him, her eyes filling with tears.

"I can't be here." She said, trying frantically to get away from him. Kyle took her face in his hands. His own memories of the last time he was in this place threatened to surface and overwhelm him and he had to fight back tears of his own.

"Paige, look at me." He said softly. "Please. Honey, we need to go home."

"Home?" She asked, tears streaming down her face. "No, but I still have something to do..."

"You mean kill Cole?" He shook his head, tears falling from his own eyes now. "You got to know that's not the way to do this." She shook her head.

"But...it's gotta be. It's the only...Piper, she'll...she'll understand someday..." This time, when Kyle took her by the shoulders, he did shake her.

"What if it were me? Would you understand if she killed me? What if it Ruby had killed Mel instead of the other way around? Don't you understand it could have gone either way. Cole didn't do anything to her; Cole did not kill Jack and Ruby."

"Oh, my God." Kyle turned to see Phoebe and a younger Paige standing not far away, staring at them. His Paige turned to them as well.

"Phoebe." She said, staring at her sister, a sister she hadn't seen for many years. The younger, red headed Paige stared at herself in shock.

"What's going on here?" She asked. Kyle sighed. Even through the pain, some part of him was worried about this. He hadn't meant for the sisters to even see him, but he hadn't been able to leave Paige in the pain she was in. Paige turned to him, madness and sorrow in her eyes.

"I don't want to lose them again." She said.

"We'll stop it." They turned to see Piper standing in the doorway. She walked over to them and knelt down beside them. Reaching out, she brushed Paige's dark hair away from her eyes.

"I don't know exactly what happened to you. Whatever it was, I am so sorry. I promise that we'll do whatever it takes to stop it from happening again." She took one of Paige's hands.

"Piper." Paige threw herself into her sister's arms. "They killed my babies, Piper." She sobbed. Tears welled in Piper's eyes as she held her sister.

"It's going to be okay, honey. I won't let it happen again." She pulled back, holding Paige's face in her hands. "I'm here, alright? Phoebe's here. We won't let it happen, I promise."

Chris orbed in just a moment later and stood still, watching the scene. Paige was standing in stunned silence, tears running down her face as she watched herself breakdown. He watched as Phoebe squeezed her arm before walking over and kneeling beside Piper.

"She's right honey, we won't let it happen." Paige shook her head.

"How can you stop it if you don't know what happened? You should know..."

"I know." Chris spoke up, interrupting her before she could say anything else, afraid that she'd tell Piper and Phoebe the whole truth. "It's why I came back, to stop it." He walked closer to them and met first Paige's and then Kyle's eyes. "I won't let what happened to Jack and Ruby happen again." He promised.

"Paige." Kyle knelt again. "How did you get back here?" Paige hesitated for a moment before she looked down.

"Potion." She said after a moment, and took it out. He nodded, taking it from her.

"And this will get us back." She nodded again, unable to release Piper for the moment.

"Hopefully, this will work, and you guys won't even remember what happened." Chris said. Kyle nodded and stepped closer to him, pulling him into a hug.

"Take care of yourself." Kyle whispered in his ear.

"You too. And her." Chris whispered back. Kyle released him, smiling a little and nodded.

* * *

"You alright?" Phoebe asked, sitting next to Paige on the couch after the other Paige and Kyle had gone.

"Sure, I'm fine." Paige said, bitterness creeping into her voice. "I just found out that I have two children...that were killed in the future." Phoebe put an arm around her. Paige felt the tears start again.

"But we know now, we can stop it." Phoebe said, trying to comfort her. Piper nodded, squeezing her hand.

"She's right, Paige." Paige stared off.

"Ruby...that was my mother's name, you know?"

"And Jack?" Piper asked, smiling sadly at her sister.

"I don't know..."

"Jack was Kyle's father's name." Chris said from the doorway. They all turned to him.

"You knew our family, didn't you?" Phoebe asked, staring at him. Piper frowned at him.

"Yes, I did." He sighed, walking over and sitting across from them.

"You know what happens? How we can stop this?" Paige asked, leaning forward. Chris ran a hand over his face.

"I know that a demon, or maybe more than one, got to you guys. I know that it started sometime in this year. I'm not sure which demon it was, though. That's the problem."

"How?" Piper asked. "How could a demon change all this? Did we die? Did Phoebe and I die?" Chris shook his head, hated to tell them this, but after everything that had happened today, he didn't have much of a choice. Plus it might help.

"No, you didn't die, Piper." He paused. "They went through the most vulnerable of the three of you..." He met Phoebe's eyes and Phoebe and Paige both looked horrified at this.

"It doesn't happen for months that much I know for sure. I thought that if I came back this early, that I could maybe figure it out and stop it before it started." Piper, Paige, and Phoebe linked hands.

"We won't let it happen." Piper said firmly, looking over at her sisters. Paige shook her head.

"No, we won't." She said, her voice fierce.

* * *

Piper settled back into Cole's embrace, finding comfort in his arms. She was still shaken by the experience; by seeing what the future had done to her little sister. There was something else, though, that she needed to talk to Cole about.

"I shimmered there." She said suddenly.

"What?" Piper turned in his arms so that she could face him.

"The bridge. I knew that you were in trouble, and I had to get there, and suddenly I was. I shimmered there." Cole stared at her, alarmed now, but she just smiled.

"I know what you're thinking, and it's not that." She sat up, as did he. "I think...I think maybe," she smiled and put a hand to her stomach, "our baby wanted to help you too."

"Our...baby." He repeated, staring at her with wide eyes. She nodded.

"I think I'm pregnant, Cole. No, I know I am." She smiled wider. "I can feel it."

"You're pregnant." Cole repeated, still in shock. She nodded, reaching out to touch his cheek.

"Tell me you're happy." She said softly. Cole didn't say anything; he simply pulled her close and kissed her.

"I'm going to take that as a yes." She said when he pulled back, her hand still on his cheek. He smiled at her, pulling her in for another kiss.

* * *

I do not know what Paige's mother's name really was. If anyone does and I got it wrong, sorry. I do like Henry, I guess I just needed Kyle for this story, and I do like him also.


	7. Demon, Whitelighter, Witch?

* * *

Okay, so yes, I'm having the whole powers from the womb thing. This is the baby of a charmed one and a demon. Even without his invincibility, Cole was more than likely even more powerful than the Source when he came back in the fifth season.

* * *

"Okay, so I'm a little freaked out, give me a break." Piper said, sitting the mixing bowl down and looking over at Phoebe.

"I thought you were happy about this. You seemed like it when you told us last week. You've always wanted children."

"I am happy. It's just...I keep thinking about how powerful the baby's going to be." Phoebe nodded.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. You are a charmed one, and then Cole's probably the most powerful demon in existence even without the invincibility." Piper nodded.

"I think the fact that I'm already tapping into the baby's powers and it's only been two weeks since I found out I was pregnant is a sign of how strong the kid's going to be." Piper stared down at the counter when another thought hit her.

"You're thinking about Paige again, aren't you?" Phoebe asked. "I mean, the other Paige, the one from the future." Piper nodded.

"I just can't help but to wonder..."

"I know." Phoebe said, sparing her from having to finish the thought. "Have you talked to Chris?"

"No." Piper shook her head. She was slightly afraid of talking to Chris, of hearing what he might tell her, of hearing that maybe her child had suffered the same fate as Paige's. Something had been bugging her about Chris, though.

"How do you think he knew us in the future?" She asked finally. Phoebe shrugged.

"I don't know. He's a whitelighter, right? Maybe he was ours. Who knows how long he's lived." Piper shook her head.

"No, he said that he hadn't been a whitelighter for long, remember? He doesn't even know how to heal."

"Well, maybe he was a friend of the family." Phoebe frowned. "When he first came back he told me that he'd only come back about twenty years or so. He doesn't look much older than twenty himself...maybe he's not a friend of ours, maybe he's a friend of your kids, or Paige's."

"Maybe." Piper said, but she was thinking about the man who had come back from the future with Paige. Kyle, who was apparently the father of Paige's children. He and Chris had seemed close, and she'd seen the worry in Kyle's eyes when he'd left to go back to the future, worry for Chris.

She guessed that if he was a friend of the family that it would explain why he was so determined to help them, why he had been so determined to keep Cole alive, to get Piper and Cole back to each other when they'd lost their memories.

Something was nagging at the back of her mind, though. She unconsciously put a hand over her stomach.

* * *

"Hey." Piper said when she came into the attic, and taking in the now familiar sight of Paige, flipping through the book of shadows.

"Hey." Paige said absently.

"What demon are you going after now?" Piper stepped closer to her. She'd been worried about Paige for a while now, ever since they'd seen the future version of her sister.

"I thought I'd follow Chris on his next little hunt." Piper frowned.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Paige looked up and her eyes flashed with anger.

"Why not? He won't tell me anything." Piper sighed, putting a hand on the book, stopping her from turning the page again.

"Honey, he can't tell us what he doesn't know. I think he was telling the truth when he said he doesn't know which demon gets to Phoebe, otherwise he wouldn't have come back so early, he wouldn't still be looking."

"That's not what I'm talking about. He may not know which demon attacks this year, but I think he knows why, well, I, came back. He won't tell me, though. He keeps avoiding me. I need to know what happened, and why I would think it was Cole's fault in the future."

"You don't think that she was in the right, do you? You don't seriously think Cole could do that?" She asked warily, but Paige shook her head, her attention back on the book, though it didn't look like she was seeing the words now.

"No, I don't think that it was Cole. Even when I hated Cole, I probably wouldn't have thought he'd do something so horrible." She shrugged. "Besides, I heard...myself and who I guess is my future husband talking. I'd think he'd be a little bit pissed at Cole too."

"I guess so." Piper was silent for a moment while she watched her sister start flipping through the book again. "What are you looking for?"

"Demons powerful enough to take us on and stand a chance."

"You mean demons powerful enough to take on a child of a charmed one and a whitelighter?" Piper asked gently.

"Chris is probably looking here too. You noticed the fact that he brought a lot of demons here that could only be vanquished by the power of three." Piper nodded, even more worried now.

"Yeah, I noticed. So, what? Are you going to be going after demons that you know you can't vanquish on your own, because I know that Chris is a little reckless, I've seen it, but that doesn't mean you have to be."

"I'm not going after demons. I told you, I'm going after Chris. I'll be back later." She closed the book, and orbed out.

"Damn it." Piper sighed again.

"Hey, was Paige here?" Phoebe asked, walking into the attic.

"She was." Piper ran a hand through her hair. "She's not anymore. She said that she's going after Chris." Phoebe nodded.

"She's still a little angry at Chris, isn't she?" Piper sat down on the couch.

"She thinks that Chris knows more than he's telling...and the thing is that I know she's right, but..."

"But you don't think that Chris is keeping it from her to hurt her." Phoebe finished for her, sitting down as well.

"Whatever he knows, whatever happened to Paige's family in the future...it's something bad...bad enough that he doesn't want to tell us."

"But the way that Paige looked. I mean, the other Paige...we have to stop that from happening, Piper, and to do that, we need to know everything." Piper shook her head and smiled sadly.

"I know, but I'm worried about what it's going to do. What could be worse than finding out that your children are killed? What could be bad enough that Chris wouldn't want to tell us after that?"

* * *

Chris was hiding out, waiting for the demon to appear. Ever since Kyle and Paige had come back, he'd been spending even more time in the underworld. He hadn't truly needed the reminder of how bad it was in the future.

Seeing Paige and Kyle reminded him of what had happened to Ruby and Jack, to what had happened to Mel, Phoebe, and Piper.

He had to close his eyes when images of Mel and what had happened to her played in his head for a moment. He couldn't tell them that couldn't devastate them even more than he already had. What would it do to Paige and Piper to find out about this? Piper and Cole would hate him if they ever found out the truth.

He knew that Paige wasn't taking what she'd already learned well. How could she? He never wanted her to find out about that. He'd though that he could handle it, hadn't figured that she would come back too.

Chris smiled when the demon he'd been looking for flamed in, and raised his hand.

* * *

Paige was hidden in a back part of the large cavern, her gaze focused on the spot she knew that Chris was hiding in. Was there a demon supposed to show soon? Was this demon on his list?

A few seconds later, one did flame in. He didn't wait; Chris simply stepped out of his hiding spot, a smile on his face. The demon faced him as well.

"A whitelighter." The demon said, smiling as well. "Are you suicidal?" Chris laughed.

"No." He paced out in front of the demon, facing him and crossing his arms. "You know, if I were you, I'd flame out right about now. But in my experience, most demons aren't very smart."

"You can't vanquish me, whitelighter. Only the power of three can." Chris cocked his head to the side.

"Sure about that?" Paige almost jumped out of her hiding spot when the demon sent an energy ball Chris' way, but Chris only raised his hand and her eyes widened when it was deflected and sent into the side wall. The demon's eyes widened also.

"How did you do that?!" Chris simply shrugged.

"You mean you can't see it?" The demons eyes narrowed.

"You're no whitelighter." He growled.

"No." Chris said calmly. He raised a hand and a fireball appeared there. "I'm not." He sent it at the demon and watched as it burst into flames and disappeared. Paige stood in shock, watching him as he sighed and orbed out.

Her legs feeling numb, she came out of her hiding place. For a minute, she just stood there and then rage filled her and she orbed out herself.

* * *

"We have a serous problem." Paige said as she walked into the attic. She put her hands on her hips, facing Piper who was sitting on the couch. She had gotten past her shock, and now she was just pissed off.

"What's wrong now?" Piper asked, sitting aside the book she'd been reading.

"Chris is the problem. He's been lying to us." Piper sighed.

"Paige...we all know Chris isn't being entirely forthcoming, but he has helped us." She frowned and studied her sister's face. "Okay, so whatever you're talking about, it's bad, isn't it?"

"Chris is a demon." Piper stared at her sister for a moment.

"What?" She asked, standing up. "That's ridiculous."

"I saw him vanquish another demon with a fireball, Piper." Piper stopped, and shook her head.

"But that's impossible, Chris can't be a demon."

"Why not? You weren't entirely trusting of him when he first came back, were you? Maybe this is a plan, maybe he's after us." Piper shook her head.

"Paige, Chris has been in the past for months. He's never done anything to hurt us. In fact, if it wasn't for him, Cole would still be in Florida. We've vanquished more demons since he's been our whiteligher than we did in the entire year before. Why would he do that? Why would he want us to do that if he were a demon? Why would try and save Cole's life if he were?"

"But I saw-"

"Paige, you saw yourself and your future husband, didn't you? They trusted Chris. Are you trying to tell me that you seriously think that a demon trying to kill us would fool them for years just to do that?" Paige's anger deflated a little bit and she sighed.

"Then how does he have fireballs to use? I heard him, Piper. He told the demon that he wasn't a whitelighter, but he still orbed out after. How does that work?" Piper was frowning now, thinking about Chris, about the weird feeling she'd been having about him lately.

"What kind of fireballs?" She asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, were they like the one's the Source used?" Paige rolled her eyes.

"They were blue, what does it matter?"

"Like the ones that Cole uses?" She asked quietly.

"What?" Paige shook her head, pacing a little. "Okay, maybe you're right. Maybe Chris is one of the good guys. So, maybe this isn't Chris."

"Huh?" Piper shook off her thoughts and looked over at her sister.

"What if it was a demon, just not Chris? I mean, it'd be a perfect way to get to us, right? Pretend to be someone that we trust but that we don't know very well at the same time so it'd be harder for us to bust them."

"Maybe." Piper said.

"I'm going to look up shapeshifters." Paige walked over to the book.

"Okay, I'm just going to...go see what Cole's doing..." Piper walked out of the room.

* * *

Piper paced in the living room. She couldn't get it out of her head. Everything that she knew about Chris came back to her, everything that had happened since he had come back.

Why would he come back and not someone else? Why him? Was he the only one who could do this? Why did he want to protect this family so much? It could be that he was just a friend, but she had the feeling that it ran deeper than that.

He'd fought to get her and Cole back together when they'd lost their memories. He'd done everything he could to keep them all alive when the titans had attacked. He'd warned them and helped them when Paige had come back from the future.

Paige's future husband had looked at him with worry, had seemed close to him, and then there was the fact that Paige had heard Chris tell a demon that he wasn't a whitelighter. He'd known their family well, obviously, knew that Paige and her husband had named their children after their own parents. She had seen the determination and...pain in Chris' eyes when he'd told Paige that he'd do everything he could to stop it from happening again.

The powers that Paige said that Chris used sounded like the powers that Cole had. He'd also seemed genuinely concerned when he found out that Cole wasn't invincible anymore.

Piper's frown deepened and she abruptly stopped pacing. Why hadn't she seen it before? The dark brown hair, the light blue eyes that were the same shade as Cole's. Even his attitude. She shook her head when a memory hit her of how their attitudes, at least about their own welfare, were alike.

__

"Its okay, Cole went to get him." Leo said, but Darryl did not look reassured.

"Cole?" A second later, Cole did shimmer into the manor, over by the stairs.

"Cole." Phoebe started over, but he held up a hand, an energy ball forming there.

"Wait." A second later a bounty hunter appeared across the room. Cole dove to the side, avoiding the lighting that the demon sent his way and sending energy ball at the same time. His did not miss, and the bounty hunter burst into flames.

"Damn bounty hunters," Cole stood up, smiling and completely unconcerned, "They're like gnats."

Piper shook her head at the memory, at one of the many examples of how Cole was when it came to his own life. Now that she thought about it, she did see that same quality in Chris...

__

"Hey." Chris said, orbing into the attic, looking surprised to see her.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Chris looked around, waiting for something.

"Uh, could you do me a favor?"

"What?" She asked, starting to get up. Chris didn't answer, he simply walked away from her, waiting. A second later a demon shimmered into the attic and Chris tackled it to the ground and rolled away.

"Blow him up?" Piper lifted her hands, doing as he asked.

"What do you think you're doing?" Chris went over to the book.

"What I said I'd do, I'm trying to find out which demon is after you guys." Piper stood in front of him, putting a hand on the book.

"And what would have happened if I hadn't been here?" Chris glanced up at her, unconcerned. In fact, it seemed like he had already forgotten about the demon.

"I would have managed."

"How?" Chris closed the book, and shrugged.

"I got a few tricks." He said before orbing out.

The way that he handled his own welfare. That did remind her a little bit of Cole, except that Chris took it a step further. Cole was confident, Chris was too. Then again, Chris seemed to only care that he finished his mission.

That reminded her of someone else. Chris was on constant demon hunts, he never seemed to stop. She remembered the way that Prue was. At times, she had the same attitude.

Chris may not worry about himself, but he did worry about everyone and everything else. That was something that also reminded her of Prue. He was also sarcastic and snappy like Paige at times. He was obsessive, just like Piper had to admit she was at times.

Really, though, it was uncanny the resemblance he had to Prue, and she didn't know how she didn't see it before. If she was right, that obsessive thing had to of come from her and Prue because there was no way it came from Cole.

What tricks did he have anyways? _If _he was just a whitelighter, he shouldn't be able to vanquish an upper level demon himself. But if he wasn't...but how was it possible? How was it possible to fool everyone?

Piper put a hand to her stomach when the feeling she'd been getting lately grew stronger, and she had the distinct impression that her baby was trying to tell her something. She'd had a strange feeling about Chris...since she had found out she was pregnant.

"Chris!" Piper called out suddenly. She needed to see him. She needed to see him now. "Chris! I need you, get down here!" Her nerves were so shot that she jumped when he orbed in behind her.

"What's wrong?" He asked, concern in his voice. Piper shook her head, and met his eyes. She stared into his eyes, his blue eyes, and she knew.

"Okay, I need you to tell me something, and I need you to be completely honest with me. No orbing out or dodging the question, just honesty."

"Piper, you know I can't tell you anything more about the future." Chris said, sighing. "I know that Paige is worried-" Piper held up a hand, cutting him off.

"Not about that." She said, still a little freaked out by her own train of thought. "About you. I need the truth, Chris."

"The truth about what?" Piper closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath.

"I need you to tell me how it's possible you can orb...when you're mine and Cole's son."


	8. Another Chance at Family

"What...what are you talking about?" Chris asked, his eyes wide in shock. Piper stepped closer to him.

"I asked for the truth, Chris. I know it, I can feel it. You're my son, Cole's son, aren't you?"

"What? No, that's..." Chris stepped back, looking away from her.

"Chris, please, just tell me the truth. I already know, okay. I know it for certain." Chris shook his head, and looked back at her.

"Who told you?" Piper smiled softly and touched her stomach again.

"I think you did." Chris backed further away from her.

"I should...I need to go...I still haven't found out anything..."

"Chris, we need to talk about this." She tried to reach out for him, but he stepped out of her reach.

"No, I mean I really don't have time for this, Piper. I need to go back and see if I can find anything." He orbed out before she could reply.

* * *

"Piper, what are you doing?" Cole frowned when he walked into the kitchen.

"Cooking, what's it look like?" Cole walked around the counter to stand beside her.

"What's wrong?" Piper scoffed, but Cole could see that she was close to tears.

"What's wrong? Nothing's wrong. Everything's great. I'm pregnant and we're okay now..."

"I know that. I also know that you don't do this unless something's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong." She repeated, going over to take something out of the oven. "Just because Chris orbed out of here and he hasn't answered my call since. He's got a lot to deal with." Cole frowned again.

"You're worried about the kid?"

"I'm worried about our kid. Our son, he just orbed away and I can't get him back here." She turned to him. "Do you think you could go find him? I mean, he shouldn't be alone right now." Cole put his hands on her shoulders, bending down a little so he could look her in the eyes.

"Piper, what are you talking about?"

"Chris...he's our son, Cole." Cole's eyes widened.

"What?" Piper nodded, and felt the urge to cry again.

"He's our son. I felt it. I asked him and he confirmed it, but I really didn't need the confirmation, because I just knew." It took a few seconds before Cole could get more words out.

"You're sure about this?" Piper nodded again.

"Paige saw him vanquish a demon with a fireball, and I've had this weird feeling about him...ever since I found out I was pregnant. Then I started thinking about it. His eyes, they're yours, and he reminds me so much of Prue when I did think about it. I don't know how he can orb...but it's the truth. He's ours, I felt it, and I saw it when I looked at him." Cole stood frozen for several seconds before he snapped out of it, pulling Piper to him. She pushed away after a moment, though.

"You have to go find him. He's all alone, he needs someone there. He's been alone. Please go find him, Cole. See if he's alright." Cole ran a hand down her hair.

"And you? Are you okay?" Piper took a deep breath, and nodded.

"I'll be okay. Please, Cole. Go find him." Cole hesitated again, not liking leaving her alone like this but she was looking desperate.

"Alright, I'll find him. Maybe you should find your sisters." He waited until she nodded, kissed her briefly and shimmered out.

* * *

"I think there's a way we can test it, you know see for sure if Chris is a demon or not." Paige said to Phoebe. She'd told Phoebe everything she'd seen. Phoebe shook her head.

"I think I'm going to agree with Piper on this one. I just don't see how Chris could possibly be a demon." Paige rolled her eyes.

"I know, okay. I jumped to conclusions without thinking about it. I was..."

"Angry, I know. We said we'd stop it from happening, Paige, and we will. Hey, maybe Chris is part demon or something. You know, like Cole."

"He is." Paige and Phoebe both looked up to see Piper walking into the attic. She stopped in front of them. "There's something I need to tell you."

* * *

"You're hard to find." Cole said after he'd shimmered on top of the bridge to find Chris standing up there. Chris glanced over at him.

"Piper told you her new theory."

"She did." Cole studied the kid. Now that Piper had told him, he could see it. The boy certainly did look like Piper.

"You don't seem too shocked by it." Cole shrugged, crossing his arms.

"Oh, no, I was for a few minutes." Chris raised an eyebrow, amusement flashing briefly in his eyes despite what was going on.

"A few minutes." He repeated and Cole shrugged again.

"Since I've been with Piper she's managed to surprise me a few times." They were both silent for a minute. "She's worried about you." Cole said finally.

"She shouldn't be, I'm fine." Chris suddenly wanted to orb out again, before this discussion even got started but he didn't. He figured he might if it were anyone else.

"Sure you are." Cole said. "So..." Chris tensed slightly, ready for him to start asking questions that he wasn't prepared to answer. "How exactly can you orb? I'm definitely no whitelighter."

"A spell." Chris said, slightly relieved that this was the first question Cole asked, one of the easier ones he could answer. "It masks the shimmering." Cole frowned.

"Enough to fool the elders, the girls?" Chris hesitated, and nodded.

"It was a power of three spell." He said quietly. When he met Cole's eyes, he could see the questions that brought up. Thankfully, Cole didn't voice them.

"What are your powers anyway?" He asked instead. Chris smiled a little.

"Well, I got some from you, of course. Like shimmering and fireballs. And I sort of inherited Prue's powers too."

"Telekinesis? Astral projection?" Chris nodded.

"Yeah, not that I need the astral projection when I got shimmering from you." Cole frowned.

"But you never use it." Cole pointed out. Chris shrugged.

"Like I said, the spell to mask it was a power of three spell. I can't break it without the power of three."

"Huh." Cole didn't ask how or why the spell had been cast.

"So...is it weird, being back here, I mean?" Chris stared at him.

"Would it be weird for you to go back in time to before you were born? To before you were even conceived?" Cole smiled.

"I don't know. It takes a lot to surprise me." Chris smiled back a him.

"Yeah, I know."

* * *

"Chris is your son." Paige repeated. Piper looked from Phoebe to Paige nervously.

"Yes." They were both silent, staring at her for a minute.

"And you're sure about this?" Piper nodded.

"I'm sure. I...felt it, and when I asked, he confirmed it. He's my son." Paige and Phoebe exchanged a glace, both shocked.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing that I didn't try and vanquish him." Paige said finally.

* * *

Chris spent the next hour sitting on top of the bridge next to Cole, talking. They didn't talk about anything too important. Cole didn't ask any questions that Chris wasn't prepared to answer.

Chris knew that Cole was doing it on purpose. He was purposefully steering clear of anything painful. He was purposefully making it seem like the fact that Chris was his son was something he'd known all along and that it was no shock.

He didn't press Chris for answers, somehow sensing that Chris couldn't answer those questions yet. He didn't press the father son issue, something that Chris was eternally grateful for. He just couldn't think about it now, not so soon after finding out what had happened to the man in the future.

Chris wasn't sure how he did it, but Cole had always seemed to know what he needed. He always seemed to know when Chris was at the breaking point, and how to pull him back from it.

When he finally left the bridge, he had started thinking about the orbing. He wondered if Piper, Paige, and Phoebe had enough power to break the spell that masked his shimmering. They weren't the ones who had cast it after all.

__

"I finally figured it out." Chris said, shimmering into the room where his family was waiting.

"Figured out what?" Ruby asked, standing up and exchanging a glance with Mel.

"How the demons keep finding us." He looked around the room. "Where is everyone else?"

"Dad, Paige, and Kyle went to find another place we could stay." Mel said. She glanced over at Jack, who was asleep on the only bed in the rundown place they had been hiding out in for a little while. Chris nodded.

"We might not need it. We should be able to get the manor back soon."

"How?" Ruby asked. "The demons always seem to be a step ahead of us; they always seem to know what we're going to do before we even do it. And then there's the fact that they always seem to know where we are."

"I think I figured out why that is." Chris said, holding up a piece of paper.

"What's that?" Ruby asked, taking it from him. "A spell?" Chris nodded.

"I think they're tracking our shimmer." Chris glanced at Mel. "I don't know how they're doing it, but this spell should work. It should mask the powers we got from Dad so that they can't. Nobody would even be able to tell." Mel frowned.

"But how would we make up for it?" Chris smiled at her.

"This spell will make it seam like we're like Ruby and Jack. Half whitelighter instead of half demon, you know?" Ruby frowned as well.

"Are you sure it'll work?" Chris nodded.

"If we say it together. Look, together we are the most powerful magical force in the world. It should work. Hell, I'd be willing to bet that it would fool the elders."

"He hates me." Piper said when Chris orbed out. It had been weeks since she had figured out who Chris was, and he had been avoiding her and her sisters ever since.

"He doesn't hate you." Cole said, wrapping his arms around her.

"Oh, yeah. He tell you that?" She asked, irritation in her voice. She knew it wasn't fair to be irritated with him, but she couldn't help but to be worried. Why would Chris find it so hard to talk to her when he didn't seem to have a problem talking to Cole?

"Piper, I told you that I've talked to him a little bit but he hasn't really said much about his future." Piper sighed.

"I know, I'm sorry. I just...I'm worried." He smiled a little.

"I know, but I'm sure you're a great mother. The kids going through a lot right now just give him some time."

* * *

"Piper, are you sure this is a good idea?" Phoebe asked, following her sister out into the hall.

"Why not?"

"Well, I'm just remembering what happened when I went to the hospital during my pregnancy."

"That was different." Piper said, putting on her coat.

"Maybe so." Phoebe put on hers as well. "But we both know that Chris is going to be one powerful baby. Who knows what could happen?"

"Well, if something does go wrong, I'll just freeze the room, and we'll figure out something. I think it'd be good to see a doctor, though. Just to make sure everything's going alright."

"I think you'd know everything's alright," Phoebe followed her out the door. "You've seen you're son as a twenty two year old."

* * *

"You went down to the underworld when you were twelve?" Cole asked incredulously. It was one of the few bits of information about Chris' childhood that the kid had let slip.

"Yeah, but Mel busted me..." He trailed off, his smile fading at the thought of her. Cole frowned.

"Mel?" He heard the name a few times since he'd been talking to Chris, and he had a pretty good idea of who she was, but Chris hadn't confirmed anything. In fact, he didn't seem to like talking about her at all.

Now, Chris hesitated, looking at his father. Mel was a subject that he didn't like to get into. He didn't want to remember what had happened to her, much less talk about it, but it wasn't like Cole and Piper wouldn't find out soon. In fact, he was pretty sure that Piper would find out as soon as she went to the hospital.

"Melinda." He said after a moment. "She's...she's my sister." He took a breath. "My twin sister." Cole stared at him for a moment, his eyes wide.

"Your twin sister." He repeated. "You have a twin sister. Piper's having twins." Chris nodded.

"Surprised?" He asked, smiling a little at his father. Cole ran a hand across his face and let out a small laugh.

"Uh, yeah." He said slowly. Cole frowned in thought. He hadn't been asking about the future for two reasons. One was that he didn't think Chris was ready to talk about it, and he didn't want to push Chris about it. The other was that he was slightly afraid of what Chris would tell him.

He'd already imagined several things that could have happened to Piper in Chris' future. He tried not to think about it, but Chris refused to talk to Piper now, and Cole could practically read it in his eyes.

Now, he was imagining something else. Twins, Piper was having twins. She was having a little girl, too. He felt a momentary swelling of happiness about this. A little girl as well as a little boy.

After what had happened between him and Phoebe, he'd never imagined he'd gain a family again, especially not this family. In the two years he'd spent with Phoebe, he'd never imagined that he could love anybody else.

But now...now he was with Piper, the last person he'd expected to ever fall for, and she was having twins. He didn't think that it could get any better than that.

And then he took a look at Chris, at his twenty two year old son from the future. There was pain in Chris' eyes when he'd told Cole about his sister. The same pain Cole had seen when he'd talked about Piper.

* * *

Chris settled down after Cole had left, but didn't sleep. He couldn't. He knew that Cole suspected something had happened to Piper and Mel in the future. It probably wasn't that hard to figure out.

He couldn't tell Cole what happened. They could never know what happened to Mel, and he didn't want to see the look on Cole's face when he found out how Piper died. When he closed his eyes, he got an image of his father after Piper and Mel had died.

Cole and Piper would hate him; they would have every right to hate him. What happened to Mel had been his fault, he was the reason she was dead. He knew that for a fact. He didn't deserve them, Piper or Cole, not after what he did.

* * *

Piper paced in her bedroom, nervous once again. The doctor's appointment had gone fine, except she'd gotten one big surprise. Now she didn't know how she was going to tell Cole.

He'd be happy, hopefully. Chris hadn't told her anything about this, though. Then again, it would be kind of hard to tell her anything since he was still avoiding her.

"Hey." Piper turned abruptly to see Cole standing in the doorway.

"Hi." She said, smiling at him. He walked over to her.

"Something wrong?"

"No. Well, at least hopefully not."

"What do you mean?" She sat down on the bed and sighed.

"Well, there's something I have to tell you..." He nodded, kneeling down in front of her.

"Actually, there's something I needed to ask you."

"Okay, well, this is pretty big news, you know." She frowned at him. He was smiling at her now. She sighed. "You already know, don't you?" His smile widened.

"Chris may have said something."

"Great." She didn't exactly need any more reminders that Chris refused to talk to her. She looked at him. "Well, are you happy?"

"Of course I'm happy." Her smile returned.

"So, what was it you wanted to ask me?" He pulled something out of his pocket, hiding it from her for the moment.

"Well, you know I've been talking to Chris some, and I think that he made me realize a few things."

"Like what?" Her eyes widened when she saw what he was holding.

"You know, not to long ago I didn't figure I'd ever have anything like this. After everything that happened...The Source and the marriage from hell..."

"You aren't going to start talking about Phoebe are you? Because I gotta tell you..." He shook his head.

"I'm happy. Happier than I've ever been, and I don't deserve it, but I love you and I want to be with you and both our kids. Look, I'm not great at this kind of thing. I'm good at the kissing and the...other things that come with it..."

"No, you do okay." He leaned closer to her, opening the tiny box.

"Marry me?" She stared down at the ring before looking into his eyes, her own filling with tears. "Is that a yes? No? Maybe?" She put her hands on his cheeks, bringing him close for a kiss.

"It's a yes. Of course I'll marry you." His smile widened further and he kissed her again before putting the ring on her finger and hugging her tightly.

"I won't ever let anything happen to you, I promise." He whispered fiercely. He intended to keep the promise. Whatever happened to Piper and their daughter in Chris' future, it wouldn't happen again. He wouldn't let it happen.

* * *


	9. Mel

__

"Mel!" Chris shook his sister's shoulders. Mel gave a gasp and sat straight up in bed. There were tears in her eyes. "Are you okay?" She put one hand to her heart. She was silent for a few minutes while her breathing went back to normal.

"I'm okay." She said after, closing her eyes for a second. Chris watched her for a moment.

"I think we should tell Mom and Dad about this." Just like every other time he'd suggested this, Mel shook her head violently.

"No. We can't tell them." Chris and Mel had this argument almost every time she had one of her nightmares.

"But maybe they would be able to help." He said, frowning at his sister. The tears fell from Mel's eyes as she bowed her head, her long dark hair falling into her eyes.

"I can't tell them, Chris. I can't." Chris sat back and crossed his arms.

"Fine. Then you have to tell me. What was this one about?" Mel looked up at him, hesitating. She never liked telling him, and rarely went into detail. They had been very young when she had first started having them, though, and she had told him without really thinking about it. He and Ruby were the only one's who knew.

"Was it about Dad?" He pressed when she didn't say anything. Mel chewed her lip, and looked down.

"Yes." Chris tilted his head so he could meet her eyes.

"It was bad?" He guessed from the look in her eyes. She nodded.

"I saw him trying to kill Mom and Aunt Paige." She whispered finally. Chris stared at her, shocked for a moment, before he reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.

"It was just a nightmare, Mel." Her head snapped up, and she glared at him.

"It's not just a nightmare, Chris. I've had enough premonitions to know what they feel like. This is like that, only of the past and not the future." Chris

__

"I think we should tell them," Chris repeated after a moment. "At least Dad. He'd be able to explain."

"No." Mel said again. She leaned forward. "We can't tell him, Chris. Promise you won't tell him." Chris sighed again.

"Alright. I won't tell. I promise."

...

"Piper." She turned and frowned.

"Leo, hi. What are you doing here?" She paused. "I mean, you haven't really been around much lately..." He nodded.

"I know. I really was only worried about you guys, but when you found out that Chris really was trustworthy, I thought it'd be best if I stayed away. It's...easier that way." She nodded.

"Then why are you here now? Something wrong?" He hesitated for a moment.

"The other elders sent me here, Piper." She tensed at this and her eyes narrowed.

"Leo, look, I know you're an elder now, but to be honest you're the only elder I'm going to be letting into my house. You're the only one that I trust anymore."

"I know. That's...why they sent me." Piper nodded, crossing her arms.

"So, what? They're using you now too?" Leo shook his head, stepping closer to her.

"No, Piper. They're not using me. They are worried...specifically about what Paige told them. I mean the one from the future."

"Oh, you mean the one who had watched her children die, that one? So, are they even concerned about the fact that Phoebe could die in the next six months or are they just concerned with a vague theory they have of what a threat Cole might be?" Leo sighed.

"Look, I know that you don't trust them or like them much anymore-"

"And why would that be, Leo?" She interrupted him, her voice sharp. "Could it be because they tried to kill Cole?"

"They thought they were doing the right thing." Piper shook her head, anger rising.

"Oh, don't you even give me that crap. I notice that it didn't take much convincing on her part before they were lining up to execute Cole." She glared at him for a moment. "This isn't about the future, is it? This is about the past. This is about Cole's past."

"Piper, I know you're angry, but don't take it out on me. I wasn't there, remember?"

"You weren't, and you didn't know about it, did you?"

"Of course I didn't." He said, looking slightly hurt that she could think that.

"I'm sorry." She sighed, feeling a little guilty. "It's just...I don't trust them, Leo. I can't, not after what they tried to do."

"I know. Paige must have known I wouldn't go along, so did they. They left me out of the loop. I may not like Cole much and we may not be together anymore, but I would never hurt you like that."

"I know." She felt some of her anger fade. "So, why did they send you down here? This is about Cole, isn't it?"

"Sort of. They are concerned about what Paige told them, but they are also concerned about something else." Piper frowned.

"What else?" Leo hesitated.

"I know you're pregnant, Piper." Piper nodded, a little uncomfortable suddenly. She was talking to a man she had been planning on having children with not even two years ago. Then she frowned.

"Wait, they're worried about my kids?" Leo nodded.

"You know that the charmed line will go on through your children, don't you? The power of three will be reborn through the first born of the charmed ones. From what you have learned from the future, from what Paige told them, and from...something else, they think the new power of three will be reborn in yours and Cole's children and Paige's eldest child."

"Something else?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know the prophesies about the charmed ones, Piper, and I'm sure that your aware of how powerful your children will be."

"Okay, what exactly are they worried about?" Leo hesitated again, and looked down. "Leo..."

"I'm just...trying to figure out a way to tell you this without getting blown up." He didn't smile. Piper crossed her arms, and some of her anger came back.

"They think that my babies will turn, don't they?" Piper shook her head. "Do they think Chris is evil?"

"They are concerned...about the real reason that Chris came back from the future." He said carefully. Piper shook her head, some of her anger coming back.

"Thank you for coming down here, for warning me about this, but I could care less about _their _concerns."

"Piper-" She held up a hand.

"No. You know, I never liked the elders. After all the crap they put us through while we were together, I haven't been too fond of them. This is worse. They lost the right to dictate anything in our lives when they tried to kill Cole. They should have come to me. Paige is my sister. She was suffering, on the brink. Instead of coming to me and my sisters like they should have, they kept it from us and used it to try and kill Cole."

"I don't think they were trying to hurt you, Piper." She scoffed.

"I don't care why they did it, Leo." She tilted her head. "They think that history will repeat itself? That's what Cole thought. He thinks that the elders don't like him because they think that I'll turn the way Phoebe did."

"That is a concern of theirs." Leo admitted. "Piper, you have to see that it's well founded, after what happened to Cole and Phoebe's marriage."

"That's not going to..." She trailed off, and glared at him when what he'd said hit home. "They know, don't they? They know that Cole asked me to marry him. How do they know that? I haven't even told Phoebe and Paige yet."

"You know as well as I do that they have ways of finding this kind of stuff out."

"Ways like watching us?"

"I don't think that they would do that, Piper." Her glare did not let up, though.

"After everything they've done in the past, I wouldn't put anything past them. Leo, I've loved you, and I know that you are a good guy. From here on out, you are the only elder that I ever want to see again. You go back and you tell the rest of them to stay out of my life, to stay away from Cole, and to stay the hell out of my children's lives." Leo sighed and nodded sadly.

"Alright, but Piper, I really don't think they're intentions were to hurt you." She said nothing to that. She'd already made her feelings clear. "Bye, Piper." He said before orbing out.

Sighing herself, Piper sat down on the couch and put her head in her hands, worried now more than ever. Despite what she had said, her warnings, she knew that the elders would not let this issue lie. She was worried about what they would do if they did seriously view Cole as a threat.

...

__

The living room was a disaster. Chris and Ruby had been gone out for only an hour.

"Oh, my God." Ruby said, her hand flying to her mouth when she saw the destruction. She grabbed a hold of Chris' arm. That's when he heard the sobbing, and saw his mother.

Piper was lying in the center of the room, the coffee table shattered around her. Chris stood numb for several seconds before he ran over and knelt beside her.

"Mom?" Ruby ran over as well, kneeling on the other side of her. She put a hand over the wound on Piper's chest, but looked up, meeting Chris' eyes after a moment and shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

Feeling a little numb, Chris reached out and touched his mom's hair. He looked over to the source of the sobbing and saw his sister. Mel was sitting, pressed up against the wall. Her eyes were fixated on Piper.

"Piper?" They heard Cole's voice in the hallway. "I heard-" He cut off abruptly and Chris and Ruby both looked to the doorway where he had stopped. He stood frozen for a moment before walking over. Ruby scrambled over to Mel as he fell to his knees beside Piper.

Chris watched his father lean over her. He watched as the truth hit him, he watched as Cole broke down, he watched as he hugged his mother's body. Chris stared at his dad, and realized that it was the first time that he'd ever seen his dad really cry. That thought finally broke him.

...

"Chris." Piper stopped short in surprise when she entered the attic. It wasn't exactly an unusual sight, in fact Piper sometimes wondered if Chris had the book memorized with all the time he spent looking through it. This time, however, Chris was not at the book. He was standing by the window, staring out.

"Piper." He said, turning his gaze briefly on her. Piper stepped closer to him hesitantly, definitely surprised when he didn't immediately orb out.

"Are you alright?" She asked quietly. Chris turned fully to her after a moment of silence, and crossed his arms, looking uncomfortable.

"Piper...can I ask you something?"

"Of course." She said after another moment of shock that he was actually talking to her and in a civil voice as well. "You can ask me anything." Chris hesitated. He looked down for a moment, his bangs falling into his eyes, before he met her gaze again.

"Why did you...What were your reasons, at the time, I mean..." He shook his head. "Why did you forgive him?" Piper frowned at him.

"Him? You mean Cole?" Chris nodded. She studied his expression. "You know about his past?"

"I...found some things out. You guys filled in some of the blanks when I pressed you."

"What exactly did we fill in?" Chris reached for the book, to the page he had opened earlier and turned the stand to face her.

"Like him." Chris tapped the picture of Belthazor and met Piper's gaze again. "And the Source."

"You don't trust him?" Piper asked finally. Chris shook his head with a smile.

"Of course I trust him, Piper. I loved my father, he was a great man, but I never saw this side of him. You did. I was wondering what made you, and your sisters, forgive him."

"Well, to be honest, I think at this point Paige really more tolerates him. She is coming around though, the more time he's here. They just really bicker like brother and sister lately. Phoebe...she loved him at one time. She still loved him when he came back last year. I think she couldn't forgive him _because _she still loved him. But once she let him go, once she moved on..."

"And you?"

"He made me realize something important," she smiled softly. "He made me realize that he wasn't that guy anymore." She gestured to the picture of Belthazor. "That he hadn't been for a while. I couldn't help but to fall for him." Chris nodded, and looked away from her.

"I was just...wondering." He orbed out before she could say anything else. Piper sighed and sat down on the couch. Well, at least he'd talked to her, even if he was still distant.

_..._

_"Mel's sleeping." Ruby said, walking into the room and sitting down next to Chris._

_"She's having the nightmares again." Chris said quietly. Ruby nodded._

_"We need to tell Cole." Chris shook his head._

_"She doesn't want us to tell him."_

_"Look, Chris. I agreed to keep this quiet when we were younger because of what the dreams were...and then what happened to Piper...what Cole went through after that..."_

_"She stopped having them."_

_"That may be true, but Chris," she shook her head, "she's having them again now, and her fiancé was just killed..."_

_"Everybody has a right to their secrets."_

_"Not when those secrets can hurt them." Ruby countered. "I watched her tonight, Chris, and I think we have a bigger problem."_

_"What's that?"_

_"I don't think she's dreaming about Cole anymore."_

...

_"_Cole asked you to marry him." Phoebe repeated.

"Yep." Piper said. Phoebe and Paige exchanged a glance before both of them hugged Piper.

"Well, it isn't all that surprising. You are pregnant, after all."

"So, you guys are okay with this?" Paige shrugged.

"If we're okay with you carrying the demons baby, why wouldn't we be okay with you marrying him?"

"Good." Piper said, ignoring the way Paige had said it. Phoebe frowned at her.

"You going to tell us what's bothering you?"

"What are you talking about?" Piper started away, towards the kitchen. "Everything's great, everything's wonderful."

"Piper." Phoebe grabbed her sister's shoulders, stopping her in her tracks. "What's the matter?"

"I'm just...worried." Phoebe smiled.

"Well, I'd be worried if you weren't." When Piper only glared at her, she sighed. "What are you worried about?"

"I'm worried about the real reason that Chris came back."

...

_"Hey, Leo." Chris said without looking up. "What are you doing here?"_

_"I came to see you. I heard what happened." For a moment, the words brought back the crushing, overwhelming pain. With effort, Chris pushed it back down, forced himself to be numb._

_"I'm sorry, Chris." Leo said, sitting down on the bridge next to him. "How...How are you? How are Paige and Cole?" _

_"They're great." Chris said, his voice empty. "Paige had a breakdown and is currently blaming Dad for everything. Dad's not fighting her on it, either. You know, he cried when Mom died. He doesn't cry now, he's just..." He looked over at Leo. "I did that to him." _

_"This wasn't your fault."_

"No?" For a moment, it overwhelmed him again. The pain and the horrifying guilt of what he'd done.

_"You didn't mean to. You were trying to protect them." Leo said softly. Chris didn't bother to reply. It didn't matter. The fact that he hadn't meant to didn't matter. _

_"I'm going to fix it." He said softly after a moment. "I'm going to fix everything."_

"What are you talking about?" Again, Chris didn't answer. He orbed out instead, heading to where he'd said he'd meet Bianca. All that mattered now was the mission. He'd never be able to forgive himself for what he'd done, even if he did change it, but maybe he could save them.

...

"Chris." Cole sat down next to him at P3. The club was empty at the moment.

"What are you doing here?" Chris asked. He hadn't really talked to Piper or Cole lately. The conversation with Piper hadn't really helped either. His nightmare was back, the one of what he'd done. He'd been having it for a while now, and talking with Piper hadn't helped.

"I came to see how you were doing." Cole said.

"Piper's worried?" Chris guessed, looking over at Cole. He nodded.

"Yes, she is." Chris stood up.

"Tell her I'm fine." Cole turned in his chair.

"I would if I believed that." He stood up finally. "Look, I know you don't want to talk to her. I don't know why, but I get the feeling that it's because something..." he hesitated for a moment. "Something happens to her in the future." Chris closed his eyes briefly.

"It's not just that." He said softly. Cole stepped closer to him.

"Then what is it, Chris? Whatever it is has got you running away from her, from your mother, and I gotta tell you, kid, you look like you haven't slept in weeks." He paused again, hesitating in asking the next question, afraid of the answer that he could get. "This has something to do with your sister?" Chris visibly flinched and refused to meet Cole's eyes.

"I don't want her to hate me. I don't want you to hate me." Cole shook his head.

"Why would I hate you? Whatever it is, I wouldn't hate you, and neither would Piper."

"She will. She'll hate me. You'll both hate me when you find out what I did." Cole put his hands on Chris' shoulder but Chris still avoided his gaze.

"Chris, tell me what happened."

"I killed her." Chris' voice was soft, and he finally met Cole's eyes. "I killed my sister."

...

This chapter took forever to get out, and that was after I uploaded it. Sorry about the dots, but the line on the document doesn't seem to want to work right now.

* * *


	10. Guilt

"Tell me what happened." Cole said quietly after a few minutes. He sat down on the couch in Piper's office next to Chris. Chris pulled his knees up, and stared down, not meeting Cole's eyes.

"It started when we were kids," he said quietly. "We were still living at the manor. After what happened to Phoebe, I guess Mom and Aunt Paige thought it was the safest place. I think we were about...six or seven when Mel started having the nightmares."

"Nightmares?" Chris nodded, still looking down.

"She refused to tell us what they were about at first. She used to sleep in Ruby's bed because of them. They didn't stop, just got worse, but she got better at hiding them. She used to tell you and Mom that they were about demons or something. She never told you guys what she was really dreaming about."

"What were they about?" Chris hesitated a moment. He'd never told Cole about this. By the time that he and Ruby had decided to tell him, it was too late. After Mel and Ruby died, he just couldn't bring himself to tell Cole the truth about it. He didn't want Cole blaming himself more than he already had.

"Chris?" He looked up at Cole and gave a sigh.

"They were about you." He said finally. "They weren't really just nightmares. We found out for certain before she died...they were memories." He glanced briefly up, meeting Cole's eyes for just a second.

"Of what?" His voice was even.

"Of before you and Mom got together...mostly from before you and Phoebe met...and some of just after you and her got married." When he looked up again, Cole was staring out again. His expression was blank, but Chris had grown up with the man, and he could see the guilt, the pain in his eyes. Chris wondered if he was remembering his time as the Source.

"We didn't tell you," Chris went on, knowing that Cole was thinking that what happened to Mel was his fault. Chris couldn't let him think that. He hated the thought of telling the rest, but at least Cole would know it wasn't his fault. "Mel was horrified at the thought of telling you. She inherited Aunt Phoebe's powers as well as yours, you know? I think it was the empathy. Even when she was a child she knew what the knowledge would do to you."

"That is not a good enough reason." Chris gave a small smile at the tone of his voice, but it didn't last long.

"We were kids, and she convinced us not to tell you and Mom. She was convinced that they would stop, and they did."

"They stopped? When?" Chris hesitated again.

"When we were a little older."

"But that's not the end, is it?" Chris looked down again and shook his head.

"A few years after...after Mom..." Chris clenched his fist. He saw the emotion in Cole's eyes and didn't finish the thought. "She was doing alright. Heading to College and she even met a guy. She was planning on getting married when there was an attack. The demons...they attacked while she and her fiancé were out together. We don't even think they were after her..."

"She watched him die?" Cole ran a hand over his face.

"It was after that when the dreams started again. They were worse than before and not just about you anymore. I think some demon found a way to manipulate her premonition power. It was driving her crazy, and I didn't see what she was truly dreaming about until it was too late. I think...I think Ruby told Aunt Paige about the dreams Mel had been having about you, though. That's why Paige always blamed you for what happened. She thought it was the reason that Mel did it." "Did what?" Cole's voice was barely controlled now and Chris closed his eyes. He couldn't look into his father's eyes while he told him the rest.

"She wasn't just dreaming about you anymore. She was dreaming about Ruby. I think maybe Jack too, but I'm not sure. For so long, she'd been dreaming about them hurting me, hurting you. They felt like premonitions to her. Ruby and Jack, they were both strong. Kyle was a whitelighter after all, but neither of them were anywhere near as strong as Mel was." He opened his eyes finally but he still couldn't meet Cole's gaze.

"She attacked them?" Chris nodded, and he closed his eyes again briefly against the images.

"They didn't stand a chance. She was completely unstable at that point. If she had been more of herself, she would have known they were good. She had Phoebe's empathy power but that power turned out to hurt her even worse than it helped in the end. It nearly drove her over the edge after what happened to Mom. She was grieving and then she could feel it in you, me, Paige, Ruby, Jack, Kyle...when she attacked them, she was already to far gone to listen to that power. In fact she pretty much hated it..."

"You stopped her." Cole stated. Chris flinched and his fists clenched again. He felt the tears coming as the images that he'd been blocking out for so long now came back to him.

"I didn't mean to kill her." He trembled a little bit. "I didn't, I swear. I only meant to stop her. I didn't know they were already dead. I hit too hard. I killed her. I killed my sister." There was silence from the other side of the couch. Chris did not look up.

He'd never talked about it, never said it out loud. He hadn't meant to say anything. If it were anyone else besides Cole, he wouldn't have either. This wasn't the same guy, wasn't his father yet. He'd gotten by with that thought but really he was just fooling himself.

Chris stared down at his hands. He hated his powers more than ever at the moment. Hated that he was strong enough to do that. To kill his own sister. He had thought, more than once, that it would have been better if he wasn't as strong, if maybe it would have been better if he'd died along with them.

The pain that he'd never truly allowed himself to feel welled up in him until it was almost unbearable. His memories tortured him with visions of their faces. Ruby and Jack lying broken on the floor. Mel, staring up at the ceiling without seeing it. Kyle, Paige, and his father's horrified faces when they'd come into the room, too late to do anything for any of them.

His eyes were closed and he was lost in the memory, in the pain but he did feel it when Cole put his arms around him, pulling him closer.

He almost recoiled from the embrace. He didn't deserve it. He'd been preparing himself for the hate, for the disgust. Still, even though he knew he didn't deserve it, he couldn't force himself to pull away.

Instead, he clung to his father, one hand fisting in his shirt. He knew that it wouldn't last. Maybe the words hadn't sunk in yet. He knew what would happen when they did. There was no denying what he'd done, not anymore.

* * *

Cole sat still, stunned for a moment at the revelations. Even though he had been expecting something bad, something horrible, he still hadn't been expecting something like this. It was a horrifying thought, that he'd been the one to drive his own daughter over the edge.

What Chris had had to do, what the kid had endured was unimaginable and now he thought that Cole would hate him. Looking over, he pushed his own horror to the back of his mind before pulling Chris closer. The boy clung to him and Cole let him.

"I don't hate you, Chris." He said softly. How could he? How could Chris think that he would? Chris buried his head in Cole's shirt.

"I could never hate you." Cole said, just as soft, but firm. Despite his own horror at what would happen in the future, he felt the need to comfort Chris overwhelm that. None of this was Chris' fault no matter what the kid thought, no matter how guilty he felt.

Cole knew a thing or two about guilt. He had so much blood on his hands. Among his many sins he had even tried to kill Piper a few times. He'd accepted the fact that no matter how much he helped the girls now, no matter how many people he helped them save that it would never outweigh the damage he had caused.

That was how he moved on from it. He was never one to dwell on the past or the future for that matter. He'd killed a lot of people, and true he did feel guilt for that, but he didn't mope about it. He knew that they would get their justice one day, when he was finally vanquished for good. No matter what Piper thought, he knew where he was headed after he left this life for the final time. He had made peace with that fact.

But Chris...he did not deserve this pain. The kid was so..._good_. He pulled the boy closer to him. He would take this pain too, this horror and deal with it. Chris was more important than anything he felt. So, he pushed everything he felt to the back of his mind and held Chris tightly until the kid fell asleep.

* * *

Piper stopped short in the doorway of her room and stared. Standing at the foot of her bed was Cole who was looking down at Chris. Chris was fast asleep in the bed. Piper walked up and reached out to put a hand on Cole's arm. He jerked at the contact and glanced briefly over at her before turning and walking out of the room.

"Cole?" She frowned in concern as he leaned against the wall in the hallway and slowly sank down until he was sitting. When he looked up at her, she froze for a moment. He looked afraid. No, he looked _terrified. _She had never seen such fear in his blue eyes before and her heart sped up.

"What happened?" She asked, kneeling in front of him. For a moment, he didn't move and then he reached for her, pulling her into an almost desperate hug.

"I love you," his voice was quiet, but fierce.

"I love you too," she pulled back and put a hand on his cheek. "Cole, please tell me what's wrong." Cole closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them, the fear was gone, replaced by a fierce determination that she _had _seen in his eyes before. Reaching out, he put a hand to her stomach.

"You're the only thing that matters. The only one's that matter," he pulled her into another hug and Piper returned it.

"You matter." She said softly, placing a hand on the back of his neck. She was terrified now. Chris must have told him something truly horrible to get a reaction like this.

"I'll keep you safe," Cole didn't seem to hear her, "no matter what." Piper closed her eyes and fought off tears.

"We'll keep each other safe." She said softly. No matter what Cole thought, he was just as important as she was.


	11. Worry

This has some of Piper comparing Cole with Angel and her reasoning why Cole isn't as brooding and depressed...

* * *

"So, what do you think?" Chris asked, crouched down behind a dumpster and looking over at Cole.

"Well, we are outnumbered and they are upper level demons." Cole didn't sound too concerned about this, however. In fact, there was a vague sort of amusement in his eyes. Chris wasn't surprised. Cole was usually the one instilling fear in his opponents, not the other way around. The man always did like a good fight...

"Are you sure we're outnumbered?" Chris asked, a smile spreading across his face. "You sure it's not the other way around?" Cole grinned back at him and nodded.

"Ready?" A fireball formed in his hand and Chris copied the action. Oh, yeah. The demons definitely had no chance.

* * *

Piper sighed when she noticed the open book of shadows after walking into the attic. She wasn't surprised and wondered where her fiancé and son were this time. It seemed like to her that she saw less of Cole than she did before they got together.

After his near breakdown she had witnessed two weeks before, he had started going out with Chris on nearly every demon hunt. He seemed just as obsessed with finding out the truth as Chris was.

He refused to give her the details of what Chris had told her. He avoided the questions and changed the subject. He insisted that it didn't matter because he was going to make sure it didn't happen again.

She closed the book after taking a glance on which demon it was open to. Cole hadn't touched it, she knew that. He never touched the book. He never tried. Piper knew it was one of those very well hidden insecurities that Cole had.

He assured her, just as he had Phoebe when they had been together, that he simply didn't want to risk getting electrocuted again even though the book didn't do that, Prue's trap had and he had been evil at time, undercover and still trying to kill them.

Phoebe had taken it at face value, even been amused by this simple fear from one of the most powerful demons in existence. Piper knew it was something else.

She had been with Cole long enough to realize that there was a reason why Cole never showed any outward remorse for the crimes he had committed as Belthazor and the Source.

In the months after Leo had left her, before she had become friends with Cole, she had had a lot of time on her hands and spent a lot of it in the manor. She'd been embarrassed to admit to Cole that she had gotten hooked on a TV show about vampires.

She liked that show, Angel, about a vampire with a soul that was trying to atone for all the crimes he had committed before he had gotten the soul. She had unable to help but to compare this character to Cole and wondered how Cole kept from sinking into a depressed, brooding mood that the character on the show did.

After spending time with Cole, it wasn't hard to figure out, though. The difference was that Cole wasn't looking for atonement. Just after Cole had lost Belthazor, she remembered Phoebe confiding in her a part of the conversation she'd had with Cole just before the fight had begun. The part where he had said that the good he did would never come close to balancing out the bad.

Paige had thought it was because Cole just didn't care, Phoebe had thought that it was because Cole believed her when she said that he wasn't the same guy who had killed all those people. Piper knew that it was neither of those things.

Cole truly believed that he would end up back in the wasteland, or worse, when he died. He didn't dwell on his past because he believed that he would pay for it when he died. That he would pay for eternity.

She also knew that he could touch the book if he wanted. The book was tied to her and her sisters. It warded off threats against them, people that they perceived as threats. Even Paige no longer thought of Cole as a threat.

Cole could fearlessly start a fight with the most powerful demon in the underworld but he refused to touch the book because if it didn't let him that meant that she didn't completely trust him.

These insecurities were very well hidden. It had taken her some time to figure Cole out. She knew that Chris had told Cole what he had come back here to stop and she knew that it was bad. Whatever Chris had told him had made it worse, made it so that she was actually able to see it. That's what scared her more than anything. Whatever Chris had told him had pushed Cole to a near breaking point and brought out guilt and pain in him for everyone to see that he usually hid so well.

Whatever happened in the future, Cole was feeling guilty about it. It wasn't the same as his guilt for the pain he had caused as Belthazor or the Source. No, this was something that he _was_ dwelling on.

She could think of only one thing that could force that guilt out in the open like that, force it out enough that not only she could see it but her sisters could too. It had something to do with his family. With her and most likely the twins.

The only time that she had ever seen Cole dwell on his crimes in the past was when they hurt Phoebe. It had to be very bad if it could shake him up this much.

* * *

"Hey," Phoebe walked into the kitchen and grinned at her sister, "you want to go out later? Since it's been so slow around here..." Piper scoffed.

"Yeah, it's been _real_ slow around here. You want to know why that is?" She dropped a pan into the soapy water before grabbing a rag to wipe the counter down.

"Piper...I know you're worried but Cole and Chris can take care of themselves." Piper shook her head and sent her sister a glare.

"Physically, yes they can. I doubt there's a demon out there who could take them out together. You're right about that." She walked out of the room, straightening things as she went.

"So, you're worried about what you think Chris told Cole?" Piper nodded, waving her hands as she marched up the stairs.

"It's been two weeks since they talked. They've spent more time in the underworld than here. Chris still won't talk to me and Cole refuses to tell me what has him so freaked out."

"Yeah, you've noticed that too, huh?" Phoebe said with a slight frown when they reached the attic. Piper turned to her.

"You have?" Phoebe nodded.

"There's not a lot of things that could shake Cole like that. I know he is, too. He's always been good at hiding it but its there if you look." Piper stared at her sister for a moment, reminded that Phoebe knew Cole just as well as her and felt a little guilty about her earlier thoughts about her sister.

"But you have seen him shaken like that?" Piper asked. She walked over to the book. It wasn't open this time but that didn't mean anything. Cole was at work. At least he was supposed to be.

"Sure," Phoebe sat down on the couch, "I know he doesn't like to talk about his past but when he's faced with it...I remember how much that thing with Emma shook him up and then there was Raynor and the Brotherhood..." Piper frowned, staring at her sister. "What?" She shook her head.

"Nothing. It's just; sometimes I forget how long you and Cole were together." Phoebe smiled a moment.

"I know. Pretty weird when you think about it, right?" Her smile morphed into a frown after a moment. "You know, I only saw it for a second. When we talked, after Emma tried to kill him, I only saw it in his eyes for a second..." Piper nodded.

"He hides it well. He doesn't even think about it, ever." Phoebe rolled her eyes.

"I know _that_. I spent a lot of time with him just after he switched sides. I used to wonder what he did in the two months between the fake vanquish and when he came back here."

"Yeah, well, I doubt he was moping. Cole doesn't really mope." Phoebe's smile returned and she stood up.

"They'll be alright. Whatever happens in the future, we'll stop it."

"That won't erase the memories, Phoebe. For Chris or Cole. Whatever happens in the future, Cole's blaming himself. I can tell that. It's just another thing to add on to the list. I know it can't be his fault, whatever it is but he thinks it is. It isn't enough that he has a hundred years of working for the Source and then all those months when he was possessed _by _the Source..."

"They you'll make him see it isn't his fault," Phoebe declared. Piper shook her head.

"I wish it were that easy."

* * *

"Hey." Piper looked up at the quiet voice.

"Chris," surprised, Piper closed her book. She had been about to start setting up the club and was alone there. "Hi." He fidgeted a little nervously before sitting on one of the stools across from her. He didn't look her in the eyes.

"So, I know you have to work but I...think I need to talk to you." Piper nodded, a feeling of relief coming to her. Chris usually avoided her.

"Sure. I've got time. You can talk to me any time."

"Well, it's just...I'm sort of worried." Piper frowned at him. It was more than obvious that he didn't want to be here.

"Worried?" Chris nodded and finally looked up.

"About D...Cole." Piper's frown deepened. She didn't comment on the slip but her heart sped up a little.

"What's going on? Is he okay? He isn't hurt, is he?" Chris shook his head.

"No! No, it's not that." She relaxed a little. Chris was fidgeting again and she fought the urge to ask him outright why he couldn't even be in the same room with her.

"Then what...?" _What's so wrong that you would risk a conversation with me? _

"It's just that he's not acting like himself. I know it's my fault, I know that's he's feeling guilty. I tried talking to him but he doesn't believe me and I thought maybe you could do something. You always could before..."

"Chris, what's going on? What is it that you don't want to tell me? Did I do something? I mean in the future, is this my fault?" Chris stood abruptly, meeting her eyes.

"No! You didn't do anything. This isn't your fault!" Piper was taken aback slightly.

"Then what is it?" She asked after she recovered. She leaned forward. "Whatever it is, Cole's blaming himself, you're blaming yourself. Look," she leaned across the counter and risked putting her hand on his, "whatever it is, you can tell me." Chris stared at her for a moment before he took his hand away and stepped back.

"No, I can't. I'm sorry." Piper dropped her head down when he orbed out.

* * *

"Hey," Cole sat on their bed behind her later that night, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Hey," She leaned back against him and started to put away the pictures she'd been looking through. He stopped her and glanced at them. Most of them were of the two of them. He leaned back after a moment, taking her with him so that they were both lying down, her resting against his chest and he put the pictures on the nightstand.

For a few minutes, they were both silent. Piper turned after a little while, resting her hand on his chest above his heart.

"What's wrong?" He asked. She hesitated for a moment.

"Chris came to talk to me." He frowned.

"That's...good." She shook her head at worried look in his eyes.

"He didn't tell me anything, just that he's worried." Cole's frown deepened.

"Worried about what?"

"About you," it should have been obvouis. Cole was the only person that Chris talked to anymore. Cole sighed, the frown not leaving.

"He shouldn't be." Piper raised an eyebrow.

"No? Should _I _be?"

"I'm fine." Piper rolled her eyes and sat up, staring down at him.

"Okay, you need to tell me what's going on," she couldn't help the anger and frustration.

"Piper-"

"No." She put a hand on his chest when he sat up. "Cole, you tell me not to worry about whatever's supposed to happen. You tell me not to worry about you. And now you're sitting here, _lying_ to me."

"I'm not lying-"

"You're not fine," she cut him off again with a glare; "even Chris doesn't seem to think you are. Look, I don't know what happens in the future but I do know that it whatever it is, it's not your fault or it won't be..."

"How do you know that?" Piper shrugged.

"Because Chris doesn't think it is. And because I know you." Cole was silent for a moment, unconvinced and she thought that he was thinking of all the wrong he had done before he'd met them and of the time he had spent as the Source. She had been prepared for that but was somehow unsurprised when he didn't bring it up.

"I can't tell you this," he said instead, "I promised Chris that I wouldn't. I've been...trying to get him to talk to you, but he refuses to talk about anything but the demons that he's hunting..."

"I asked Chris before...but is this my fault, Cole? What did I do? He refuses to even be in the same room as me. Why does he hate me so much?"

"He doesn't hate you, Piper." Cole reached out for her again. "He's afraid that you'll hate him." Piper frowned, startled.

"But I could never..."

"I know but he doesn't think so." She let Cole pull her to him again. She knew that he wasn't going to say anymore about whatever it was. Still, she didn't understand how Chris could think such a thing. What had happened to him?

* * *

"Hey!" Phoebe jumped out of bed when Piper passed her open door on her way up to the attic. "What are you doing?"

"Tracking my fiancé and son." Piper answered without turning. Phoebe frowned as Piper walked over to the book, which was open.

"How are you going to do that?"

"Cole's been making sure that I at least know which demons they're after. I think it's his idea of reassurance. He's been somehow steering Chris away from the more dangerous ones."

"How is he doing that?" Phoebe asked, stopping in front of her sister, who began flipping through the book. "I thought Chris was pretty obsessed..."

"He is. He also listens to Cole."

"That's good at least." Piper nodded but didn't say anything else. She had tried to talk to Chris since her talk with Cole but he was still avoiding her. She needed to know what happened to her son. She needed to know why he thought she would hate him.

Piper had flipped another page when it happened. She gasped when it hit her and closed her eyes. It lasted less than a minute but when she opened her eyes again, she was on the floor. Phoebe was kneeling in front of her worriedly.

"Piper? What just happened?" Piper stared at her sister with wide eyes.

"I think...I think I just had a premonition," she looked down at herself and placed a hand over her stomach. "Looks like somebody inherited your powers."

"Well, what did you see?" Phoebe asked, shocked and also sounding exited. Piper stared at her a moment more, letting the images sink in. Tears formed in her eyes.

"I think I saw why Chris doesn't want to talk to me."

Above their heads, neither sister noticed when a gust of wind from the open window turned the pages of the book from the one that Piper had last turned to.


End file.
